Dragon Ball AF: The Room of Sprit and Time Saga
by JTX1000
Summary: Six months following the defeat of Omega Shenron, Vegeta drags Trunks back into training using the recently mended, but unpredictable Room of Spirit and Time. Catastrophe follows as the room turns out to be far more dangerous than anyone ever thought. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1 Back Into Training?

Dragonball AF: The Room of Spirit and Time Saga

Set soon after GT's end, Vegeta goes back into training is determined to get Trunks into shape in the process using the recently mended, but unpredictable Room of Spirit and Time with unfortunate results. (Reintroducing everyone's favourite long-haired saiyan.)

Chapter 1: Back Into Training

"And then I said to her 'I know where you're coming from, but it's not you Maria, it's me.' Classic! And she actually bought it too! Well, at least I'm single again. Whoosh! The only thing she ever did was complain!"

_Ugh not again. _"Goten you're twenty seven." voiced Trunks.

"Aaand?" Goten failed to see his friend's point.

"Don't you think you should settle down to one woman? I mean you've been repeating the same process with different girls for years now."

"Ah, no way!" joked Goten, shrugging off Trunks's suggestion with a laugh, "I'm still young! I can be doing this for at least another decade before I settle down."

Trunks politely laughed along with Goten for humour's sake, privately theorising that he'd be saying the exact same thing a decade later. _Geez, if he keeps this up he's going to end up like Master Roshi! _

Trunks and Goten sat chatting aimlessly in a downtown coffee bar that had lately become a favourite haunt of theirs over the last few months. Often they'd come here after Trunks had endured a boring day's work at Capsule Corporation and Goten finished doing. . . Whatever the hell Goten did in his free time; Trunks always wondered, as there was little to do in the desolate mountain range and small cottage he called home with Gohan out of the house. They'd gather here before heading out to town in the evening to grab something to satisfy their saiyan stomachs, reminisce about old times and regularly discuss Goten's latest date.

It had been a quiet six months since Goku defeated Omega Shenron and left the Earth on the back of the great green dragon to places unknown. In that time little had changed; the planet had been left in perfect harmony once again. It was always strange with no renegade saiyans, world conquering tyrants, destructive androids or bubble-gum looking fiends to try and destroy them all, but a strange feeling in Trunks's gut told him that the Earth would not remain safe forever. Despite this however, as well as the fact their saviour was gone and the Dragonballs with him, Trunks, Goten and indeed Gohan hadn't even thought about training since Goku left.

"How's Vegeta anyway?" said, Goten, quickly changing the subject, "I haven't seen him in ages."

Trunks considered. Neither had he. In fact, thinking about it now he realised that he hadn't ever seen his father for more than five minutes at a time every odd week since Goku's departure. "To be honest Goten, I really have no clue as to how my Father is," Trunks confessed, "The only thing he ever does now is train, and even more so over these last months. My best guess is that he's trying to master super saiyan four without the use of blutz wave amplifier, it's like now that he's the most powerful he has to make it stay that way, because if trouble came without Goku or Picollo we'd all turn to him first now. His pride would never allow him to let himself weaken anyway."

Goten sobered all of a sudden now that the conversation was more serious, speaking a little more like his brother would, "I know what you mean. No offence, but Vegeta's as proud as he is powerful."

Trunks only nodded mildly in affirmation and proceeded to sipping his tall, thick chocolate milkshake through a straw, enjoying the delightful taste this place produced. Goten was right. Trunks regretted deeply that he'd neglected his own training, indeed he was powerful, but that didn't mean he now had to quit altogether. He just never had the time anymore, with his job at Capsule Corporation weighing him down during the days, he'd rather use his free time afterwards to hang out with Goten and enjoy himself while he could. Still though, it worried him sometimes. He'd strived always to make his father proud, and now he could only wonder in dismay at what Vegeta thought of him, no doubt he'd be ashamed; the Prince of all Saiyans having offspring that pushed papers all day rather than fight. Trunks shuddered, no wonder he had hardly seen him over the last months.

"So anyway, how's Pan? It's been a long time since we spoke." quizzed Trunks. It was true, like Vegeta he'd seen little of her except from at the Briefs's and Son's dinners, as well as Uub and Krillin, just what were they so busy with? Krillin he could understand; he had a family now and was getting too old to be active all the time, but Uub and Pan? He used to see Uub all the time.

"Well, Pan's in training." revealed Goten, much to the shock of Trunks, he figured Uub would be, but Pan as well?

"What for?" The lavender haired saiyan dared to ask. Pan trained regularly, but unlike Vegeta she knew how to separate it from her public life.

"The World Martial Arts tournament, Thirty Second I think. It's in three weeks, didn't you know?"

Trunks was shocked; to Goten's amazement, no, he didn't know about the upcoming tournament. Well, he knew the date, but he never realised that it was so close by; he'd been so caught up with things at work lately. It would explain Pan and Uub's training, but bothered him most was why Goten himself wasn't in training, it seemed a prime opportunity for he and his family to get some easy money, as he doubted Vegeta would be competing, which meant that all the other fighters would be around Goten's level. As a super saiyan two the only real concern he had was Uub, and Trunks was confident that at full power Goten could outlast him.

"No, I didn't," Trunks confessed, rather irritably. He was annoyed that Goten hadn't informed him sooner, then again it was his own fault for forgetting, "Are you entering?" he asked.

"Think so, If Gohan's out of the picture it should be no problem. The only thing I'm worried about is Uub though, he's probably far stronger now, and if he's done training for six months straight then I don't think I'd stand a chance."

Trunks reflected, once again Goten was right. Trunks, Goten and Uub may have all been of a similar power level six months ago, but that was more than enough time for Uub to turn the tables completely.

"Hey I know!" Goten exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the table in a moment of sudden eureka, "Why don't we enter the tournament as Gotenks!? It'll be great! We'd win no problem! We could probably even take down my brother with that kind of strength, I doubt there are any rules against it! I mean technically we'd be one person!"

"Are you serious?" questioned Trunks unbelievably. He and Goten hadn't fused in years now, and at first the idea seemed ridiculous to him, but the more he thought about it the more logical it sounded. He grinned smugly, an inherited trait from his father, Gotenks was more powerful than both of them put together, but the idea of entering him into the tournament reminded him of when they were kids and entered the adult division stacked on top of each other as 'Mighty Mask', only this time they'd actually be as one body.

"Yeah, It'll be great! We enter as Gotenks, split and refuse before every match and split the winnings down the middle!"

"Hmm," Trunks considered briefly, "we'd have to get some serious training done first, I doubt we could still pull off the fusion dance without practice, and I don't know if I could find time to train anymore."

"Is that so?" Interrupted a gruff voice from behind them, its brashness scaring the hybrid saiyans causing them to stiffen up to attention in an instant. Goten and Trunks whirled around in their seats, milkshakes in hand to see Vegeta standing firmly with his arms crossed at the double glass doors of the cafe. Trunks immediately felt like an idiot in front of his father, lounging with the cocktailed, thick milkshake in his hand, but the biggest question that nagged him was how long had he been stood there listening to them? Trunks prayed desperately that he hadn't heard their comments about him, but either way, seeing them both now, he knew for sure that Vegeta must've been terribly ashamed of him.

"Father!" exclaimed Trunks nervously, trying his best not to stammer, "What're you doing here?"

"Uh excuse me sir, excuse me!" nagged a voice from Vegeta's left side, and both Trunks and Goten slapped hands to their foreheads, embarrassed completely by what was to come.

"Excuse me sir," continued the waiter, ignoring the fact that Vegeta refused to even acknowledge his presence, and simply stared ahead at the two half saiyans, "you have to order something here you know. Sir? Sir?-"

"Quiet!" Vegeta barked, silencing the man in a single word, "I'm just here to pick up my son and his friend."

_And his friend?_ Pondered Goten fearfully, _oh great, what's he got in store for me?_

"Well that may be the case sir but you can't just show up here without ordering anything."

Vegeta snarled angrily with a deep, throaty growl. This fat, flamboyant waiter was beginning to annoy him, and part of the full blooded saiyan wanted to blast him into oblivion, but he'd learned to control himself over the years he'd spent on earth.

"Sir? Sir? Sir?"

"Argh fine!" The saiyan finally resolved, knowing full well that if this continued he'd end up hitting the man, "Get me a soda and shut the hell up!"

The waiter hesitated for a moment, completely astounded by Vegeta's rudeness, but then he took a better look at the man's appearance. He may have been shorter than he, but he had a body that looked as though it were chiselled out of marble, with the most refined biceps he'd ever seen. The saiyan once again wore his traditional blue battle outfit; he'd abandoned the saiyan armour but instead wore an identical deep cobalt vest to the one he'd used against Majin Buu, with pearl white gloves and shiny, polished battle boots to go with it. His hair protruded out at least eight inches above his head and formed into refined widow's peak at the hairline, thick and coal black like his eyes, icy cold and remorseless. Since Omega he'd allowed his hair to grow back to its original length after experiencing a huge wave of saiyan patriotism after Kakarot's disappearance. Noticing these frightening features the waiter swiftly bowed and scurried off, leaving Vegeta with a satisfied grin across his still youthful face.

"Hey Vegeta, come to join us?" Goten laughed. He switched to a more playful, joking tone almost instantly to cope with Vegeta's constantly aggressive mood, pretending he hadn't heard the 'and his friend' comment.

Vegeta approached the two sat the bar wordlessly and stood before them. His eyes looked them quickly up and down with disapproval as a look of disgust flashed across him. Was he sizing them up? Looking for a fight? Goten certainly hoped not, but as for Trunks, even in these unfortunate circumstances he was glad to see his father yet again, looking better than he had in years. No one looking at the group from across the bar (there were many after Vegeta's outburst) would've guessed that Trunks was Vegeta's son, physically they looked around the same age due to the full blooded saiyan's extended youth, though Vegeta's eyes carried the wisdom and experience behind them that one could only glean from a veteran saiyan life.

"I've come for no such thing," declared Vegeta in response to Goten's proposal, "you two are coming with me, immediately."

Goten and Trunks exchanged nervous glances and the black haired half-blood gulped with fright. Naturally, he tried to de-escalate the situation. His inherited jolly demeanour meant that he hated those awkward moments, especially now that Vegeta was facing him with that hard scowl he put on at all times.

"Well, just let me finish this and we'll be on our w-"

"_Now_." Vegeta butted in firmly.

"Okay, okay," Goten waved up his hands in surrender and stood up from the low barstool. He was much taller than Vegeta, but that only meant that an uppercut from the Prince would gain full momentum before it reached his jaw, he gulped.

"Here's your order sir." The squeaky voiced, rotund waiter reappeared at Vegeta's right side holding a round black tray with nothing more than a soda can on it.

Vegeta thrust a couple of notes onto the tray and snatched the drink. He knew that he'd paid far too much for what he ordered, but it was nothing for loaded funds of Capsule Corporation that his wife ran, and he couldn't be bothered sorting the money out. "Keep the change." he growled, before immediately switching his attention, "Come on Trunks, we're leaving."

Trunks watched in bewilderment, his father had never done anything like this before, it was also the only time he'd opened his mouth to say more than two words to him in six months. Why the change now? Was he so sick of having a weakling son that he'd decided to change things by force? And just where were they going? Either way, a chance to actually spend some time with him for once was an exciting prospect. He'd given up on making Vegeta proud as his life's goal as he knew that the saiyan would never be fully satisfied with even his own power let alone his son's, but he still tried hard to impress him when an opportunity presented itself.

"Right." Trunks smiled and got to his feet before Vegeta turned and led them out of the building.

"I say it time and time again, you all have gotten soft. Just because this is a time of peace it doesn't mean you shouldn't be ready." Vegeta lectured as they passed through the glass double doors, "Over time our enemies only ever become stronger and stronger: Freeza, Cell, Majin Buu, the Tuffles, Omega. Each is more powerful than the last, and instead of preparing for this you choose to waste your time and become weaker, the exact opposite of what you should be doing."

Goten laughed, "Hey Vegeta, you forgot yourself from that list."

Vegeta only snarled viciously without words as Goten reminded him of how he was when he first came to the planet Earth, what a fool he had been.

"Sorry, sorry." apologised Goten yet again.

"You are lucky you're the son of Kakarot, boy."

"Sorry." he repeated.

Trunks chuckled to himself quietly, his father would never lay a finger on Goten out of respect for Goku, which meant that the half saiyan could say pretty much whatever he wanted and get away with it in an instant. If _he'd _said that to Vegeta he'd probably received at least a combination of punches for his quick wit.

Vegeta cast his eyes up into the sky and took off north after pausing for a moment to get his bearings. Trunks and Goten immediately followed suit, flying right behind him to form an arrow shape. All around people on the streets gasped and pointed after them into the sky, but the warriors paid no heed to them as usual, they were used to it by now. After seeing flying people at almost every world tournament in thirty years they knew such phenomena existed, but it was still rather exciting to see someone fly for real.

For a few minutes the saiyans flew through the clouds over the western mountain regions following Vegeta. Neither of the two younger fighters knew exactly where they were going, but Trunks felt he had a good idea.

"Father, we're going back into training aren't we?" guessed Trunks. His father's comments about them becoming weak suggested it, "You know mother wouldn't let me take time off wor-"

"It's all been sorted; you'll only be gone for one day, that's all. After that you can do as you please." replied Vegeta coldly, he certainly was grumpy today, but then again he always was.

Trunks nodded, a day was long enough; he could handle that. What did he hope to achieve in just one day though? Either way he accepted that there was no way out of this training and he'd just have to go with his father's wishes.

"Can I go get my sword then?" Trunks proposed, he'd never had a chance to properly use Tapion's sword in battle since he'd received it. Back in the day he'd been too small to wield it, but now that he was the right size no opportunities presented themselves.

"Hmph, sure." Vegeta grunted, "We'll meet you there." deep down he was glad, and proud, that his son was once again displayed some interest in training, he'd got that sword years ago but not used it once in battle since then.

Trunks still didn't know exactly where 'there' was, but after he retrieved the sword from home he could just easily follow Vegeta and Goten's ki signals to guide him there. He veered off to the right, leaving Goten on his own as he flew back home.

"So Vegeta, where exactly are we going?" asked Goten after several awkward moments of steely cold silence.

"You'll see." Vegeta replied. Unknown to Goten from behind him he had a smug grin on his face as though he had a crafty trick up his sleeve. From this angle the son of Goku could see that Vegeta had re-grown his tail, confirming Trunks's suspicions about him trying to reach the fourth level, as he'd need one if he planned on doing it alone.

The air became much chiller as they rose up through the damp, claustrophobic clouds overhead; once or twice Goten even lost almost lost sight of his saiyan acquaintance. Why were they flying so high? Surely he could've got them to where they needed to go without going to this altitude where the clouds soaked his clothes and the wind interfered with his styled hair. Unless. . .

"Vegeta!" exclaimed Goten with a gasp, having finally figured it out, "We're going to the Lookout aren't we?"

After a few seconds of silence the man responded, "We're almost there."

Vegeta's harsh reply told Goten that his guess was correct, where else could they be going? Sure enough within another minute they'd passed right by Korin and Yajirobe's place and arrived on the cold surface of the Lookout.

The Lookout had been exactly how he remembered it, especially since Dende and Mr. Popo waited patiently at beside one of the pillars that supported the shrine-like building on the front half. The Lookout itself was a half-sphere shaped structure floating miles above the surface of the Earth. It was the home of the planet's guardian Dende and his faithful servant Mr. Popo. From up here the guardian could see all that was ill on his beloved planet and once he did, he informed the Z-Fighters immediately, is that why they were here? Was something wrong?

Vegeta led the way with Goten following nervously behind him along the clean, white tiled surface over towards the main building. Dende rushed out to meet them, looking far happier to see them than Vegeta did. It had been so long since Goten had been up here, in fact the last time he'd been up here for more than a few hours he'd been just seven years old and had learned to fuse with Trunks in the Room of Spirit and Time. He pondered on this for a second before switching his attention to why they were actually here, and then it hit him.

'You'll only be gone for one day, that's all' Vegeta's words echoed back and forth in his mind over and over. A year's worth of training in one day. Last time he entered though, Picollo had seen Gotenks losing the fight against Buu and in an act of selflessness blasted the only entrance, only for Buu to escape by tearing a hole in space just moments later. They escaped using the same way, but that didn't mean they could re-enter again, he presumed it to be lost forever, unless by some miracle Dende had restored it.

Vegeta reached Dende, and rudely as usual, he decided to skip with the formalities, moving straight on to the main question he had in mind. "Is it ready?"


	2. Chapter 2 The Room Rebuilt

Chapter 2: The Room Rebuilt

Vegeta reached Dende, and rudely as usual, he decided to skip with the formalities, moving straight on to the main question he had in mind. "Is it ready?"

"Well, no, not really." Dende confessed apologetically, "We still haven't finished it properly. . ." Dende winced, preparing himself for the repercussions. Upsetting the Prince was the last thing he wanted, but he simply hadn't had enough time tinkering with the new Room of Spirit and Time to let anyone inside.

"What!?" Vegeta tried hard to contain his anger, after already bringing Goten and Trunks up here he was furious to find out that it was incomplete. "You said you'd have it made again by now."

Goten had already figured out what exactly the two were discussing, he just had to validate his theory, "You're talking about the Room of Spirit and Time right?" he asked.

"Yes," answered Dende, before turning back to Vegeta, "and we _have _remade it, it's just that we haven't finished all our tests on it, if we miscalculated on even one aspect the results could be disastrous. We just need a few more months, then it'll be fit to enter, it's just that I can't allow anyone inside unless I'm absolutely sure it's safe."

Vegeta snarled irritably, the room was there, within his grasp and the only thing holding him back was the fact that it hadn't been properly checked yet. When someone fled in a space pod from an exploding planet they didn't have time to check whether it had atmospheric compressors or a running navigator, they just pressed go and hoped for the best; this obstacle was nothing for him, sometimes you just have to take a gamble, and Vegeta knew that.

"Never mind that, we're going in." he insisted.

"What? No! Just give me a little more time, if something happens to you then-"

"Then we'll deal with the consequences, and it will be our fault entirely." Vegeta finished Dende's sentence for him, "If something happens no blame will be passed on to you."

Dende sighed with a mixture of relief and resignation. He was glad that he wouldn't need to face Vegeta's wrath, then again it bothered him that the man just wouldn't listen to his advice. As always, a saiyan's determination was rivalled only by his stomach; once Vegeta had his mind set on something it was very difficult to dissuade him.

"I guess there's nothing I can say to change your mind then." The namek realised.

"No."

"Alright then, I'll tell Popo to pack your supplies."

"Good, now where is that blasted son of mine?"

Just at that moment Trunks sailed over the outcropping of the lookout and landed smoothly next to them. Once again he wore on his back the sword of Tapion that looked strikingly similar to the one the future version him bore. Training in the room with Trunks again would bring back some old memories, of that Vegeta was sure, even if last time he'd completely ignored the future version of his son for the duration of the full year they spent in there.

Trunks looked around the Lookout confused, just as Goten had been just a minute ago. Then he realised. Goten watched, completely amused as it slowly dawned on Trunks what exactly he was doing up here, he'd guessed it quicker than Goten had, being much more perceptive despite their age difference of just a year.

"Father you said we'd be gone for just a day." complained Trunks in realisation.

Vegeta smirked rather evilly; the two had fallen for his little trick to get them back into training, "Technically, you will be."

"You failed to tell us the truth."

"I never lied, Trunks. You can still walk away if you're afraid." taunted Vegeta.

Trunks thought about it for a moment, he knew full well that his father had no intentions of letting him just walk away, but why was his initial reaction so against the idea? A year's worth of training in one day with the prince of all saiyans sounded like a great opportunity once he thought over it, he knew full well that Uub, Pan, Tien and maybe even Gohan would accept Vegeta's offer, and on the plus side he would finally be able to spend some time with his father after seeing so little of him over the last few months.

"Alright, I'm in." he decided at last.

"Excellent," Vegeta gave a vague, blink-and-miss flash of a proud smile before continuing, "Trunks and I will enter first. Goten, you and your partner will go in tomorrow after we come out, hopefully by then you two will have actually become powerful again."

"Wait, but I don't have a sparring partn-" Goten began.

"He's over there." The prince pointed towards the shaded area underneath the pillars when a familiar face emerged from behind them.

"Gohan!?" yelled the saiyan's younger brother in disbelief, "You're here too? No way!"

"Yeah," Gohan stepped out of the shade and into the full glare of the sun that shone down upon the surface of the Lookout, "When Bulma told me about Vegeta's plans for the room I thought it might be a good opportunity to get some training done, I don't exactly look as good as I did ten years ago, and Vegeta's right; if something does come we have to make sure we've done all we can to prepare."

Goten and Trunks laughed at Gohan's comments, and Vegeta allowed himself an amused smirk. He knew that he would never stop his training, but at least Gohan was now making up for his foolishness.

"All right we'd better get going, come on Trunks, this way."

"Right." said his son, and followed his father into the main building, where the fine oak door of the Room of Spirit and Time stood out against the wall, perfectly restored to its exact previous state. Mr. Popo emerged, having dropped off their year supply of essentials, he held the door open for them as Vegeta confidently approached, with the great white light of the room's void spewing out onto them casting long shadows across the floor.

"Wait," Mr. Popo stopped them just before Vegeta entered and handed the saiyans each a strange device the likes of which even the Prince had never seen before. It was like a digital gauntlet to be strapped to one's forearm; a steel grey in colour that displayed a number its screen with up and down arrows either side of it, "take these, they're gravity boosters, just strap them on and adjust the settings with the arrows."

Vegeta took the devices and handed one to Trunks, eyeing it with a look of interest, astounded by its simplicity.

"They go from one to one thousand times the earth's natural gravity thanks to the latest technology, and it means that you and Trunks can train under different gravity levels at the same time."

_This could come in handy_, thought the saiyan, before nodding to Popo in thanks, being far too proud to say the words himself.

Trunks followed him into the room and shut the door behind, getting the last glimpse he'd have of the earth for a full year. He turned and looked out onto the pure white void of the chamber; an endless white infinite plane that was impossible to tell where the floor lay and where the ceiling hung, if there indeed was one. It was exactly how they remembered it, but there was one major difference in Trunks's mind. As a child he'd been too naive and happy-go-lucky to be afraid of the eternal void before him, but now he looked where the first step dropped into it and cast his gaze over the never ending surface and felt sick to his stomach.

That was when the immediate scene suddenly changed, as two ghost-like, transparent figures emerged from the closed door and made their way to underneath the room's archway shaped roof, passing straight through the two saiyans as if they didn't even acknowledge their presence. They felt nothing as the ghosts passed through them, only Trunks felt dreadful fear as a ghost-version of himself he'd never seen before walked right on by accompanied by a transparent Vegeta.

"What's this??" exclaimed the real Vegeta, watching a past form of himself cast his eyes over where he stood, failing to recognise that the real version stood right before him and had called out. The Prince had seen this event before, he remembered it.

"What's so special about this place?" grumbled the ghostly figure of Vegeta, studying the Room of Spirit and Time with his judgemental, cold eyes.

"It's hot, there's less air." commented the transparent future Trunks, with the real one waving his hands around in front of his counterpart to no avail. The ghost continued, oblivious to the other's gestures, "and the gravity is different!"

Trunks froze upon hearing his 'own words' and reached out to feel the density of the room, he was right, the gravity sure was different, much more of it existed here than back on earth.

Ghost Vegeta only grunted in reply as his clear bodied son walked over to the floor's edge to stare out over the void. The real Trunks looked to his father, who stood back from the scene going on, watching himself only in complete interest, he seemed to know at least some of what was going on.

Trunks joined him over by the wall and asked him, "Father, what's happening here?"

"Quiet," said the Prince, not in a demanding tone, just one that conveyed his urgent interest, "just watch."

"What – I don't believe it!" Ghost Trunks gasped suddenly; he'd seen the endless white plane of the Room, "There's nothing here! We're surrounded by total emptiness! We're floating in a gigantic void! What kind of place _is_ this?"

"Too much for you?" taunted the Vegeta apparition.

"Of course not! But – Now I know why few can stand a full year in this place," the reality dawned on the jacketed, see-through version of Trunks, "It's. . . Overwhelming."

"It is. . . It is. . ." Past-Vegeta commented before he, as well as the ghost of Trunks began to slowly fade away into nothingness, leaving the real two saiyans left mystified, fascinated and scared all at the same time.

They stood in silence for a few moments, allowing one another to take in what exactly had just happened. Trunks was utterly puzzled by this; it seemed as though a scene from their lives had just played out in front of them, as his father seemed to recognise it, but why hadn't he? He'd never entered the Room of Spirit and Time as an adult; it had been destroyed when he was a child by Picollo. And why was he wearing that blue Capsule Corporation jacket? He'd never seen it in his life.

"Father, what just happened?" he dared to ask, though he doubted Vegeta had finished trying to fathom the mystery himself.

"That. . ." Vegeta hesitated, recalling the past events, "Was the first time you and I entered this room together, the only time."

Trunks was confused, "But – We've never been here before at the same time, Picollo destroyed the entrance years ago, and you were dead at the time."

The Prince of all Saiyans walked across the room slowly and settled himself into a cushioned chair across from the mysterious giant hourglasses before continuing his story.

"As you no doubt have been informed of by Gohan, we survived the reign of the Androids because a future version of yourself, one from a world ravaged by them, came back in time to warn us of their arrival. A year later that same version came into the Room of Spirit and Time with myself to train for the fight against Cell." Vegeta looked around to ensure no one else came, ghostly or real, "And what we just witnessed was that exact moment in time, where we both entered the room, and our reactions to it at the time."

"But why?" questioned Trunks, "Surely it wasn't supposed to do that? The room's never done anything like this before has it?"

"I don't know," Vegeta confessed, scanning his eyes over the featureless void, "my guess is that there is some sort of malfunction with this new version."

"Well shouldn't we go back? Let Popo and Dende finish their tests on this thing before we train in here?"

"What? Nonsense!" exclaimed Vegeta, the very idea of it only enraged him, "We came in here to train; this is just a minor setback, just a small glitch the room's system; I doubt it'll happen again."

Trunks had his doubts about his father's theories, but who was he to question Vegeta? He probably knew more about the room than he did, and all Trunks would get for objecting would be a lecture or even a swift kick to the gut. So, regrettably, Trunks let his father continue, watching a smile come to his face as he realised Trunks was agreeing to his demands.

"So, normally I train alone, but seeing as I can't trust you to do anything by yourself I've had to take matters into my own hands; I'll not have my own son stay as a weakling."

Trunks looked down shamefully, but at least he got to be his father's student, that much comforted him.

"While I am here I will use half of my time to train you to re-master your power, and use the other half to train myself. Do as I instruct and I promise you will attain the third level of super saiyan."

Trunks was amazed at his father's words; the third level? He was only vaguely familiar with the second, but it seemed Vegeta's training had conditions:

"You can do as you like while I train myself personally, but I warn you, do not interfere. I say this for your own good son, you would only be in the way, and could easily get hurt."

Trunks reflected, his father was probably right; he was now twice as powerful as his son, so if Trunks turned up or interfered at the wrong time to be on the receiving end of Vegeta's blasts it could be all over for him within moments. The deal was simple; he'd be tutored by the most powerful warrior in the universe as long as he could manage to stay out of his way during his own training. The lavender haired hybrid nodded in agreement, and a determined look came to the Prince's face.

"All right, now that that's settled power up to your maximum, let's see what you're made of!"

* * * * *

Even after just two and a half months of Vegeta's training, Trunks's power increased exponentially. The Prince had sparred with and allowed Trunks to train with him under higher, more intense gravity than he'd ever experienced before. he'd never officially took on a student before now. Nevertheless, Vegeta proved to have the strictness of Picollo, the efficiency of Goku and the mystique of King Kai, along with the blue overseer's fondness for powerful techniques. The gravity enhancers helped them a lot, with Trunks usually working under three hundred times the earth's normal pressure, but he wouldn't have succeeded without his father's help. He'd been amazed at how good a mentor Vegeta could be, as he couldn't have mastered the second level of super saiyan without him. He'd demonstrate powerful skills and handy tips for battle, and correct him at every slight fault while at the same time coming up with new ways for Trunks to exert himself and quickly ascend in power, and though he could never quite seem to please Vegeta enough, he had a feeling his father was at least satisfied with how he'd progressed.

Trunks kept to his end of the bargain and stayed well away from his father for the remainder of the days while he was training privately. Sometimes even back at the room's base Trunks could feel the overwhelming power of the Prince's super saiyan three stage or even feel the aftershocks of him practicing his most devastating moves. Other times Trunks would hear massive explosions and Vegeta would limp back minutes later half dead until the boy fed him a senzu. Then of course he would shake the event off and set off back into the void like it was nothing.

Currently, the two months had passed without major event so far, Trunks and Vegeta had gotten into a squabble over food every now and again and Trunks had gotten offended when his dad enquired into his private life one time, but so far no more ghostly apparitions of past room events had occurred before them, much to their relief, and Trunks was even beginning to forget about the experience, believing his father's statement that it would never happen again.

As far as Trunks could tell, his father had yet to attain the fourth level of super saiyan again, but little did he know that he was close, closer than he'd ever been in the last six months. Vegeta could feel it at the back of his mind creeping upon him slowly, it was only a matter of time before he could transform yet again. But impatient as always, the prince could not wait, and so one day, he pushed himself to his very limits.

After a brutally intense half-day training session under three hundred times gravity with Vegeta, as well as a few more hours spent training himself till his point of exhaustion, Trunks called it quits for the day and settled down back at the room's base with an ice cold glass of tall water. He'd trained harder than ever today, with Vegeta pushing him to new levels of power he'd never experienced before without fusion. In just two months he'd accomplished so much; sure he could've done it himself if he'd took out the time, but it would have taken at least twice as long without his father guiding him every step of the way with a firm hand. He smiled, and cackled some super saiyan energy into his finger with ease, and then he felt it; a new form of unrivalled power he'd never felt before in the distance.

A massive aftershock rocked the entire shrine-like room entrance with such force that the high beds tipped over, plates and cutlery fell from the sink and even Trunks's ice water dropped and smashed from the small, circular plastic table it was sat upon. In astonishment the saiyan leapt to his feat and surveyed the void, noticing a bright golden aura far away.

_Has he really done it__? _Trunks wondered in amazement, _has he really reached a super saiyan four without help from mother? No. . . This power, it's unlike what I felt from him in that form, it's different, but still familiar; wild and untamed. Wait, it couldn't be. . . Oh no._

Just to validate Trunks's fear inspiring theory a loud, primal roar erupted from the void and the great golden ape lumbered into view, blasting the space all around it with uncontrollable ki blasts from its mouth.

_No! He's pushed himself too far! In that form the only thing he can reap is destruction. I can't let him destroy the entrance; we'll be stuck in here forever!_

Suddenly a bright yellow ki beam headed right towards the room's base and smashed into the mysterious, glittering, giant hourglass on the base's left side and Trunks could only gasp in response; he knew that those two hourglasses likely had something to do with the stability of the room, but what would destroying one of them do? Either way, he wasn't about to let him destroy the other, he was even lucky that the blast hadn't blown up the entire entrance.

Trunks set the gravity enhancer on the table and powered up into the first level of super saiyan to fly out into the void towards the fast approaching, golden great ape form of Vegeta. Last time he'd reverted to a super saiyan four after strangling Goku, and he'd heard that Goku's own transformation followed a similar pattern, so maybe he could get him to stop; it had to be worth a try. Suddenly a giant, but uncontrolled ki beam erupted from the ape's jaw and homed straight for Trunks, who prepared to dodge it.

_No! _he realised, seeing that the entrance was behind him, and that if he dodged it the flight path of the beam would end there. _I need to deflect it!_

The saiyan stopped dead in his tracks midair as the bright yellow beam loomed closer and closer, and he transformed to super saiyan level two, drawing his sword and transferring power into the edge right before contact was made. It took all of his remaining strength, but eventually Trunks managed to bat the beam into the void with the blade of Tapion's sword, but unfortunately for him by the time he'd succeeded the golden great ape was upon him, and knocked him to the pure white floor with a swift knock of his enormous fist. Trunks attempted to weakly struggle to his feet, but felt his entire lower body being crushed by the ape's foot before he could manage to do so.

"Argh! Father!!!" Trunks screamed after howling furiously in pain. Vegeta kept his giant right foot planted firmly on his son and only pressed down harder with even more ferocity than before.

"Father you've got to stop!!! Please!" cried Trunks; he felt his vision blur before him as he looked up at the feral beast and began to lose consciousness. However it was just before his body gave in entirely that he saw the beast's great eyes staring down upon him through his own hazy ones, and then suddenly, a golden mist began to emanate from the golden saiyan ape.

* * *

_Just to let you all know (In concern to the mirage near the beginning of the chapter), I am familiar with the original manga and Japanese dub of Dragonball Z, I simply felt that I'd use the scene from the English/American dub because it is the one that most fans are familiar with, and I didn't want to alienate people using scenes with dialogue they'd never heard before._

_The chapters are a little long but I'll try to shorten them after the third if I can. Anyway I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it, should be another chapter up soon._


	3. Chapter 3 A Slight Malfunction

Chapter Three: A Slight Malfunction

"Father you've got to stop!!! Please!" cried Trunks; he felt his vision blur before him as he looked up at the feral beast and began to lose consciousness. However it was just before his body gave in entirely that he saw the beast's great eyes staring down upon him through his own hazy ones, and then suddenly, a golden mist began to emanate from the golden saiyan ape.

Trunks blacked out completely as the ape let out a primitive howl and began to shrink in height drastically. The golden fur receded, the claws and fangs painfully retracted, and eventually the beastly scream morphed into a gruff, human one. He'd done it, finally reached super saiyan four, but it was not as he'd expected. Something had happened during his transformation, and now the void, the whole Room of Spirit and Time began to shake and spin wildly with the temperature and gravity fluctuating frenziedly. Trunks lay beneath his boot out for the count thanks to his own folly. And worst of all, he was all out of power; forcing the transformation like this had serious repercussions, but the half-dead super saiyan four Vegeta still knew one thing, and that was that he had to get back to the room's base right away. If they stopped out here they'd be history; flames thousands of degrees in heat and icicles sharp enough to pierce flesh sprouted up all around them, licking his shins threatening to engulf them both.

Vegeta staggered back to his feet, and instantly felt his power waning. He wanted nothing more than to lie down and give up, as he was completely deprived of energy, it made him feel sick. If he did that though, he as well as Trunks would die for sure, and anyway, that wasn't what Vegeta did. Of all the Z-fighters the prince was easily the most enduring; his first battle on Earth saw him blasted with a quadruple kaio-ken kamehameha, smashed by a spirit bomb and crushed by an Ozaru form of Gohan, and even after that he'd survived. He'd taken several beatings on Namek from Zarbon, Recoome and even Freeza himself, but even still he'd got back up. He'd been bested by Android 18 only to come back even more powerful just days later. And most of all he'd stood up to Majin Buu by himself on the planet of the Kais; when it just seemed fair that he should stay down he'd gotten back up and thrown insults and punches at the ugly blob, and every time he was knocked to the floor he surprised everyone yet again. Yes, there was not a fighter in the universe with more determination and endurance than the Prince; even the great Goku had given up without suffering much at the Cell Games. Some would call that smart, but Vegeta's pride would never allow him to give up, it had even been the death of him once, but no matter what he would never give in, he never had, and he wasn't about to start today.

In his new, yet weakened form Vegeta finally found the strength to stand, and with a painful growl he slung his son over his shoulder. He seemed especially heavy under the fatigue the saiyan suffered, but there was no time to waste. Vegeta mustered up the strength to finally set off into the air, and within just ten seconds of a shaky, hardly airborne flight he reached the main room and skidded onto the porch, now completely drained of power, but at least he had done it; he breathed deeply and painfully, but at least he'd managed to get he and his son to safety. He smiled and closed his eyes, slipping into an uncomfortable sleep on the hard tiles of the Room of Spirit and Time.

* * * * *

Trunks awoke to a harsh light shining from ahead, blinding his early morning, waking eyes to an uneasy squint. His head hurt, and so too did his ribs, as he rose he stretched out and immediately he felt the strain of the massive bruise upon his torso throb with agony. He looked around; they were on the balcony of sorts of the room of Spirit and Time, the uncovered porch that led out to the void. But the void wasn't there. The confused hybrid rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things as he stared out at what appeared to be the planet Namek whizzing by at high speeds in place of the bleach white emptiness. _Huh? _He thought to himself, watching countless blue shrubbery trees whizz past at a thousand miles per hour. The scene then changed, morphing quickly into what appeared to be the moon with a flash of bright light, and then after another five seconds it happened again, but this was a place Trunks was unfamiliar with.

The lavender haired man stared out at a chestnut barren plateau surrounded on all sides for miles around by sharp, rocky cliffs that spanned up hundreds of metres above. Nothing inhabited the wasteland other than what he could sense as tiny lizards and vultures, but on the horizon far away lay a city. A great city; the largest he'd ever seen. Due to its size the thing threw off his sense of direction, and for a time he wondered at how far away it actually was. He could sense a whole mass of lifeforms emitting from _that _place, beings with much higher power levels than the average human. Trunks marvelled at the sand white domes and skyscrapers of the giant sprawling metropolis, wondering who owned them, and how high above the clouds they rose. An unfamiliar space pod rose out from it and the man watched it streak across the sky and over their heads, away from its home to a new destination.

"Where are we?" he wondered out loud, stepping forwards to the Room's ledge.

"I'll tell you where we are," came the tone of Vegeta, apparently he had woken without Trunks's realising, back in his most basic form, "What you're looking at is Saiyagol, the capital of planet Vegeta," the grown man paused and looked across at the city with that smug grin across his face, "I was born here."

Trunks gasped in shock at his father's astounding revelation, but there was something that still confused him, "Wasn't it destroyed by Freeza though?" He asked, careful not to hit a nerve in Vegeta's fragile calm.

But the saiyan prince said nothing; he didn't care how or why it was here, he just stared out towards the great city almost lovingly, with sure signs of glee. Suddenly though, the scene changed again with another flash of light.

"No!" Vegeta cried, extending out his hand to his beloved planet, but by then it was no more. The bright flash began to subside, and suddenly whispers of varying volumes and tone began to sound from all angles around the room. Vegeta and Trunks powered up just a little and readied their fists before they realised that the voices were familiar. Not one word could be made out from an individual, as too many were disrupting and cutting across one another, but familiar accents were Goku's, Gohan's, Bulma's, Krillin's, Picollo's, and of course their own.

The harsh light began to dim once again and the voices stopped, all save one.

". . . You've made me proud, my son."

It was the voice of Vegeta, though not the one that stood angry and confused in the room; no, the voice came from the room's void, and it was followed by the noise of a swift chop, and then a young Goten's frightful complaining as he clutched the man and shook him violently.

The real Trunks and Vegeta exchanged glances as the void itself began to morph into a desolate waste twenty metres below them harbouring only a younger Vegeta, Picollo and a seven year old Goten, as well as Trunks lay lying out cold on the floor after the man's attack. A thick, black 'M' was stamped on the forehead of the Vegeta below, and his eyes were lined with an evil coal black surrounding them.

"I remember this. . ." muttered Trunks, looking down at the eight year old version of himself sprawled out unconscious across the rubble.

A sickening punch to the gut could be heard from down below; Majin Vegeta had knocked out Goten too, and now he and Picollo began conversing in a low tone so that neither listening above could discern a word. But Vegeta knew their discussion, as he had spoke it before. He was ordering Picollo to take away the two children, and then asked the wise and knowledgeable namek about whether he'd meet Goku in the afterlife as the pink blob known as Buu bounced merrily over some boulders to the east and back into the battlefield. Picollo took off with upon the Prince's command with both kids under his arms, and Buu pointed to him, yelling something in a high pitched tone that was far from understandable by the saiyans watching in the Room from above.

"YES! That's right!" called out Majin Vegeta suddenly, oblivious that his aged self was watching proudly from above, "Your fight is with me! The others are of no concern to you! Got it!? You big, bloated, balloon freak!!!"

The two were looking forward to watching what came next, but the Room changed once more, shrouded by the same heavenly light, and again voices could be heard, though this time phrases could be picked out, as some overpowered the others with their higher volume.

"I'll reduce this place to ashes!!!"

"Gallick Gu-"

"Let me ask you, does a machine like yourself ever experience fear!?"

"_I _will be the one to defeat C-"

"Take a look at your scouter, then you'll see what you're really up against."

"IT'S OVER EIG-"

"Then tell me what has more meaning than your own strength!!!"

"FINAL!!! FLASH!!!"

"Kakarot!"

Every dominant voice that sounded around them belonged to Vegeta, and almost every one seemed to convey how much of a bastard the saiyan prince was. Trunks looked around in fear and confusion as the void whizzed by different places in space and time, refusing to settle on one destination for more than a fraction of a second before zipping by to another. Some were familiar; Trunks witnessed the Lookout, Kame house, and the interior of the ship they'd used to fly into space, but the majority weren't. Most were seemingly random, desolate mountains, riverside hills and bustling towns were among the locations visited, and it was from the latter that Trunks began to realise that the Room seemed to be invisible to any other onlookers. As the time between shifts began to lengthen they spent more than six seconds in the centre of the nearby South City on a crowded day, floating just a few metres from the street's surface. None below seemed to notice them, as though the room was invisible to them.

"Look!" noticed Vegeta, pointing to the one remaining intact hourglass at the left side of the room's porch.

Trunks turned his head to look, and suddenly realised that the hourglass itself was going berserk. It would fill itself with a little sand, deplete to the bottom within moments and then fill itself back up again for a repeat performance. It was then that he realised that every time the last grain reached the bottom the void shifted in time and space with the flash of bright light. After another ten short depletions, another flash occurred, this one brighter than them all. This time, when the glass refilled it contained much more sand that fell slower than before; at his best estimate, Vegeta guessed they had about minute or two for this one. As he'd expected, it was a familiar scene. He put his hand to his head in shame slowly as he realised where exactly the void depicted this time.

A Capsule Corporation ship bloomed by them, smouldering and coughing black smoke up into the sky as it hurtled down at full speed towards the rocky chasm beneath them. It smashed to the ground, broken in two and completely beyond repair, even for Bulma, who seemed to have been rescued just before it crashed by the same younger Trunks that the one watching above had seen weeks ago as a mere mirage upon his entrance to the Room.

"Hey, it's me again!" exclaimed Trunks from the ledge of the room on noticing his past alter ego, who was now looking embarrassed after Bulma had said something to him. She held the baby Trunks in her arms, making three different versions of the same man present at this moment in time; the present version, watching in the room; the baby and the future version, now looking completely abashed.

Vegeta however paid little notice to his son's remark, and only grunted in affirmation. Trunks wondered about this, but then followed his father's gaze. He was looking out of the void at his younger self, hovering a hundred feet up in midair looking around frantically for something in his newly acquired Super Saiyan form, apparently oblivious to the fact that Bulma and Trunks just had almost died.

"Impossible!!!" He cried, "The android! He vanished! Blast it!! Ugh! Where'd he go!?

"Bulma!"

"Are you alright?"

It was the voices of Gohan and Krillin, descending from the battlefield in order to check on their friend.

"We're okay guys!" replied Bulma, "This young man saved us!"

"That's great." Krillin commented.

"Yeah!" agreed Gohan as the two of them landed.

It was strange for Trunks seeing Gohan as a small boy in this time zone; he'd always known him as a mature, responsible adult, or at the very youngest a late teenager. This Gohan was not so different from the Goten he'd seen earlier being punched out cold by Vegeta.

"You'll never get away from me android!!!" exclaimed the enraged, hovering Vegeta as the blue jacketed Trunks fixed him with an irritated stare.

Trunks, watching in the Room above felt a stab of annoyance at his father too, and cast a sideways glare at him, one that that the Saiyan prince refused to meet.

Future Trunks down below then flew up to meet his father, who was about to set off to look for the android. Clearly he needed to address the previous event, so he stood in his way, blocking his path. "Hey! Why didn't you try to save them Vegeta!?" he demanded.

"Who?" grunted the younger Vegeta with honest ignorance.

"Who!? Bulma and your son!"

"Oh, them," shrugged off the proud prince as though they were completely meaningless. He clearly didn't know that who he spoke of was actually standing right in front of him, "I have more important things to worry about than that foolish woman and her blasted child! Now out of my way!"

He zoomed straight at the jacketed Trunks and then flew off in another direction, leaving his own son completely heartbroken and devastated at how his father could be so cold. The Trunks watching from above felt it too; the complete image of his father, the hope that he might have some compassion hidden away deep down was destroyed in that instant. He cared nothing for Trunks; that much had become apparent to him as another flash occurred and the scene began to change.

Instead of waiting for the next flash to subside and show him another event, Trunks turned his back and walked back into the arched area of the room, straight for the door. He'd seen enough.

"Trunks – I-" started Vegeta difficultly, but was cut off shortly.

"Save it!" Trunks snapped, and continued to head for the door.

The flash subsided, and another familiar scene took place before them. This one, Vegeta was proud of.

"Trunks look!" He bellowed.

The lavender haired saiyan stopped and turned to survey the scene wordlessly, still angered beyond belief at what he'd just witnessed.

The room now hovered over a battlefield that shook and trembled as dust and rocks were blasted away from every angle. The Z fighters down below, Krillin, Gohan, Vegeta, Tien, Picollo and Future Trunks covered their faces to stop debris from hitting them, as well as shielding themselves from the enormous power that could be felt just ahead of them from the rising column of smoke. From it suddenly came a small ki beam that passed by all of them before hitting the Future Trunks right in the chest, impaling his heart and seemingly killing him instantly. The Trunks up in the room gave a short gasp as he watched the Future, or past, version of himself let out a painful gasp as all the other fighters watch in fear; all except from his father, who looked shocked and enraged; saddened too, but far from afraid.

"My aim is as perfect as ever." Taunted a voice unfamiliar to him; it was Cell, renewed more even powerful after Goku's valiant yet ultimately in vain sacrifice. He then proceeded to give a long explanation as to how he had survived his self destruct. He and Gohan exchanged small talk for a few moments.

"Trunks is moving!" Krillin interrupted them, "He's still alive!"

Trunks and Vegeta above watched the younger saiyan prince's reaction carefully; he witnessed the immense pain his son was now suffering, coughing up pints of blood onto the rubble surface. This Vegeta was different from the one they'd seen earlier, despite the fact that these events were just weeks apart. He seemed to be coming to grips with something, as if he'd just had some kind of sudden realisation.

"Trunks hang on!" Yamcha rushed over and knelt down by Trunks's side, surveying the injuries. "He's in really bad shape, he might not make it!"

"Trunks – My son!" stammered the astounded Vegeta, and then his lips stopped moving altogether, but still his voice echoed loudly across the Room walls, the voice of his thoughts. _Kakarot! This is all your fault! _said the voice, ringing much louder and clearer than the menial taunting of Gohan and Cell, it continued; _How could I let this happen to my son!? He has sacrificed everything for me and I have done nothing but ignore him! There is still time to change things! Cell has crossed me for the last time: He has tricked me in battle, mocked my saiyan ancestry, but this! - This time he's gone too far! He will pay the ultimate price for what he has done to my son!!! _With that the saiyan let out a fearsome war cry that made everyone present, Cell included, turn to him with a look of fear. And with that he took off, charging as an enraged madman towards his foe, powering up as he flew.

"CELL!!!" he bellowed, before launching an enormous ki beam at the green monster.

The flash occurred once again, leaving Trunks confused. What he'd seen before was sure proof that his father cared nothing for him, though what he'd just witnessed seemed to prove otherwise. It comforted him a little, making him feel better inside, but he'd still seen enough. He continued on towards the door, and opened it: Nothing, nothing but a brick wall behind it. They were trapped.

"Father!" Trunks cried out, indicating to the white void behind, and Vegeta looked in horror.

"What!? N-No! Where's the exit!?" he cried.

"It's gone! It must've been destroyed by the imbalance you caused by destroying that hourglass."

Vegeta suddenly felt a huge pang of guilt for his actions the previous day. He hadn't meant to destroy anything, but his lack of control in the golden Ozaru form meant he'd no choice in the matter. What was worse, in trying to rush the transformation he'd not only destroyed the exit, but he'd not even obtained what he hoped to obtain. He still couldn't feel super saiyan four; he'd just have to attain the form naturally, it was only a matter of time. "Now what?"

Behind him time and space altered in the bleach white void, morphing into a place Trunks had never seen before, but Vegeta had, though he couldn't quite place it. The hourglass now was rather full of sand; they had far more time on their hands now before the next shift, almost ten minutes at Trunks's estimate.

"Guess it can't hurt to take a look around huh? There doesn't seem to be anyone here." assumed Trunks innocently.

"Guess not, but we have to stay close by," ordered Vegeta, "if we're not back before it changes again we could be stuck here."

"Right."

They stepped out onto what should've been the void, but their feet hit solid rock instead. As soon as they stepped beyond the Room's balcony though, a multitude of huge power levels came into their senses. None were more powerful than Vegeta, but some were close, dangerously close. They were scattered for miles around, not seeming to pay much heed to the new power signals of Trunks and Vegeta, all save a couple. Upon their immediate arrival two large powers instantly began to head their way at a lightning fast acceleration. A lava plume erupted over a short mess of boulders to their right, and Vegeta now recognised the place, there could be no mistaking it.

"Trunks, be on your guard!" he ordered, "If we are where I think we are then we'll be in for a fight or two!"

"Why dad? Where are we?"

Vegeta started, but before he could reply two sparkles could be seen on the horizon that matched the power levels he felt coming towards them. One was incredibly familiar, but one he hadn't felt in a long time. The other too, was familiar to only Vegeta, but it had been even longer since he sensed _that_ one. Within just mere moments the figures were upon them, and Vegeta dropped into a fighting stance.

Apparently though, there was nothing to be afraid of. A saiyan wearing a jet black gi with crimson tribal patterns came into view, and no sooner had Vegeta seen him did he land smoothly right next to them. It was Raditz.

"Long time no see Vegeta!" he jested playfully, but Vegeta was having none of it, and clenched his fists in preparation for battle. The last time he'd seen this man he'd worked loyally for him, but that was a long time ago, when his motives weren't exactly pure.

"It's alright he's with me!" called out the second, more familiar power as it landed just behind Raditz. The namek spoke in a low, hoarse tone, deeper and more serious than even Vegeta's. Like Raditz, a halo hovered over his antennae propped head symbolising the fact that he was indeed dead: they were in hell.

"P-Picollo!?" exclaimed Trunks.

* * *

_Heya, been a while. Sorry for the late entry readers, but this last month and a half I've back to college so I've had a lot keeping me away from this thing, well you'll be glad to hear I'm back on track now. So yeah Raditz is back! And Picollo! Bet you didn't see that one coming. With reference to the name 'Saiyagol' I'd like to say that I set out to do this not changing anything or creating new ideas unnecessarily, but I just got to that stage and I thought it'd be weird for Vegeta not to give it a name. And yes I used the 'Over 9/8'000' speech; I had to think of Vegeta quotes and it was the first that came into my head; sue me.  
_

_Again I'd like to apologise to fans like me of the original manga and japanese dub anime. With the scenes used from the past I just had to go with the English anime dub, as most people are familiar with it. The same goes for techniques and character names: I'd love to use names like Genki Dama and 'Makankosappo' but I have a strange feeling some people might look at it and go 'WTF!?' The only manga name I use is 'Freeza' rather than 'Frieza'. That's it for the past scenes now anyway; perhaps there'll be a flashback explanation or two to show Raditz's switch in alleigance but for the most part the past scenes are over, time for some juicy action!_


	4. Chapter 4 Raditz's Turncoat

Chapter 4: Raditz's Turncoat

"It's alright he's with me!" called out the second, more familiar power as it landed just behind Raditz. The namek spoke in a low, gruff tone, deeper and throatier than even Vegeta's. Like Raditz, a halo hovered over his antenna propped head symbolising the fact that he was indeed dead, they were in hell.

"P-Picollo!?" exclaimed Trunks.

"Trunks. . ." realised Picollo, "Vegeta. . . What are you two doing down here?"

"Yeah, how'd you kick the bucket Vegeta?" chided Raditz once again in a humorous tone.

"Raditz, they're not dead." Picollo informed, pointing out the fact that there were no halos floating above them, "What, did you come to pay us a visit or something? There's no way in or out of here, so how'd you get here without dying?"

Trunks turned back so he faced the Room and pointed at it casually, "There's some sort of malfunction with the new room; it keeps throwing us around to different places!"

"What room?" asked the namek.

It suddenly dawned on Vegeta and Trunks; Picollo and Raditz were completely oblivious to the fact that the veranda of the Room of Spirit and Time was right in front of them, just like the people in the city had been before. Picollo stepped forwards and into it, and almost instantly his expression changed. The first step onto the tiles he took revealed to him the entirety of the room, and seeing the astounded expression on his mentor's face, Raditz followed suit.

"Huh!?" exclaimed the green man in shock, "I destroyed the entrance to this place twenty years ago!"

"Nice room you got here." Raditz joked.

"What happened?" continued Picollo.

"Oh, Mr. Popo and Dende rebuilt it for training purposes," Trunks explained as he trekked back up onto the porch and into the archway of the Room. He sat himself down on the floor casually, and then gestured to the one broken hourglass, "but then father accidentally broke one of those, and ever since then the room's been jumping around like crazy in time and space. And we're trapped in too, behind the door there's just a brick wall!"

"Hm," Picollo paused for a second, considering the saiyan's words, "Is this true Vegeta?"

Trunks looked back over to his father, who he then realised hadn't said more than two words since they'd got here; he was simply stood just outside the room staring into the sky quietly.

"Vegeta?"

"Quiet! Don't you hear that? Someone's coming."

Trunks, Picollo and Raditz instantly cast out their senses across to where Vegeta was looking. But they didn't need it to know someone was approaching, they could hear him echoing loudly in the distance.

"VEGETA!!!" the voice screamed over the faraway cliffs, and was instantly recognised by all except Trunks. Picollo and Raditz exchanged glances, and the prince himself just continued to stand quietly.

"It's him!" Picollo barked, dropping into a fighting stance.

"It's alright Picollo, I'll take him, it's my fight." Raditz suddenly interrupted, stepping forward out of the Room bravely causing all to turn to him.

"You don't have to do this Raditz."

"But I do!" he insisted boldly, contrary to Picollo's complaints, "I need to make up for past mistakes here. Don't worry; I'm far stronger than him now."

The long haired saiyan then took off into the air and hovered midflight some fifty metres above in anticipation for the fight to come. He let out a deep breath; their last encounter hadn't gone so well for him, but things had changed now, after training under two of the greatest teachers in the universe, this time would be different. He was clearly a different person to the one who'd threatened the earth all those years ago, and that man seemed like an eternity away from his now respectable self.

"VEGETA!!!" the voice wailed once again; this time it was closer, as a sparkle of light began to come into view.

"Raditz, it's me the idiot is after, now come down so I can face him, I'll end it quickly." called up the saiyan prince, reluctantly sticking his neck out for Raditz.

Trunks looked around confused, everyone present seemed to know this newcomer, and they also seemed to know who was coming too. The boy felt helpless in his ignorance, but if Picollo trusted this new man 'Raditz' then he knew he must too. He'd heard the name somewhere, he just couldn't quite put his finger on it, and didn't have time to concern himself, he had to be ready to fight.

"No!" shouted Raditz in reply to Vegeta's surprisingly generous suggestion, "You stay there prince! This buffoon isn't worth your time!"

Vegeta was slightly taken aback by Raditz's speech; it had been the first time someone had addressed him as royalty in many years, and it was a refreshing change. Though he no longer felt as though he was too good for anyone of any race; he'd felt that way about earthlings once, but since then he'd risked his own life countless times to help them out. He considered rushing forwards to take on the idiot coming their way and beat his loyal comrade to it, but then remembered that Raditz was a saiyan, and had the same pride as he himself did. Vegeta knew that if anyone came between him and his opponent, or tried to intervene he'd be offended. It must've been the same for Raditz, and so reluctantly, Vegeta stayed put.

The hulking beast known as Nappa came into view, homing like a missile straight for the saiyan prince who'd killed him twice now. His bald head glinted in the low light as he lifted it so his face could be seen.

"VEGET-"

_Smash! _Raditz's right fist connected powerfully into the larger man's jaw with a sickening crush and Nappa was halted by the blow, which knocked him back ten feet or so where he hovered smugly, wiping away the blood from his mouth which trickled down onto his chin.

"You will not touch the prince Nappa." stated Raditz bravely in a commanding voice.

"Raditz, Raditz, Raditz," jeered the saiyan with a broad smirk, "where have you been in this last year? I've been missing my favourite punching bag!"

Raditz only snarled in response in a display of built up saiyan aggression and his hatred for the man standing before him.

"Now out of my way Raditz! You don't want the same as last time do you?"

Raditz then vividly remembered their last encounter; during the short lived reign of Super Android 17 he'd rushed towards Vegeta and the rest of the Z-Fighters in a desperate bid to help them out.

* * * * *

Ten Months Ago

_I must get to Kakarot! I have to warn them! _Thought Raditz, as he pushed his flight speed into overdrive and zoomed across the planes of the earth, following a small group with Cooler and Android 19 at its head. They were completely oblivious that he'd privately swapped sides after seeing his own brother selflessly fight so many heroic battles over the years from down in hell. But one man knew about his renegade; he'd confronted Nappa about the whole ordeal, pointing out that even Prince Vegeta had changed his ways and that perhaps they'd be wise to do the same. Nappa of course had disagreed; he was purpose built only for destruction, and didn't like what Raditz had to say to him; his hatred and loathing for Vegeta blinded him to all reason. Since that day they'd been at odds and their fists had met each other more times than they'd cared to count, but one thing remained constant the whole time, Nappa had always won. His eyes darted around the small pack he was a part of, searching for that man, but he was nowhere in sight. He wondered where indeed Nappa was, and knew that just because he couldn't see him now didn't mean he was safe. After confessing to Nappa all about his feelings towards the earthlings he knew that while he may be dumb, Nappa would know instantly about Raditz's plans to aid the Z-Fighters now that they'd escaped from hell, so he'd have to be extra vigilant.

Then it flashed before him, a glimmer of something in his mind like a quickly accelerating presence heading for his direction. He stopped to get his bearings, letting the whole troop of evil, heartless monsters overtake him. They didn't stop to await his catch up, they just left him behind as he'd expected, and so with an open sky he could pinpoint the man's location properly, but by the time he had, Nappa was upon him already.

Raditz threw up his fists in an x-shape to block his old friend's flying, fist leading punch, which rocked his body with an incredible shake and set him back at least five metres before he managed to regain composure. He'd absorbed the brunt of the man's attack, but Nappa was built like a bulldog, even if blocked, his attacks would still deal damage. He was lucky his arms didn't break. This time Raditz rushed forwards and exchanged a flurry of punches so fast that Nappa couldn't hope to avoid. Though for a man of his size, they were weak. A punch tickled across the brute's jaw, but the saiyan responded with a huge right hook that sent Raditz into a nearby cloud.

"Why are you here Nappa!?" called Raditz, re-emerging from the mist nursing a fractured right forearm and a bust lip, "My business is mine alone!"

"Ha! Don't come at me with that crap little Raditz, _you _were going to help out the earthlings! And as always, that makes you my enemy!"

"Then let me go to them! Just let me switch sides if I want to!"

Nappa remained silent, and never changed his facial expression of a dumb and overconfident grin. He'd not let Raditz go, because if he ever got back to the Z-fighters he'd be under the protection of them all, and he'd be a fool to think he could take Vegeta on.

Raditz continued, stricken by the fact that there was no worming out of this. As he'd done for the last few decades, he'd have to rely on just himself. Vegeta and the Z-warriors weren't coming to help him, so he'd have to settle things the old fashioned way. Nappa had always been a far more superior fighter to himself, but maybe he could change that, maybe his training had finally made him exceed Nappa since their last meeting. "There's no way out of this is there?" he said, "It's just you and me."

"That's right Raditz! You and me! At least you'll keep your pride; you've got no one here to see you fall!"

With the exchange of banter complete, Raditz and Nappa both simultaneously began to power up, revealing a huge secret from them both. Raditz charged power into his system excessively, and as his hair turned a shimmering gold, symbolising the first transformation of the Super Saiyan, he didn't stop. He carried on powering and powering, muscles expanding to fill the saiyan armour that could expand to any size. He roared like the mighty dragon in a multitude of pain and excitement rolled into one, and the second wave came over him. Sparks of blue static from his own bioelectricity began to bolt all close around him, and his hair shrunk so that it was just below his shoulders, though still long enough so that anyone observing could tell who it was.

Sadly though, Nappa's transformation had subsided as well, and though both had successfully attained the level of Super Saiyan 2, it was clear who had the higher power; Nappa. Raditz could sense this, and a pit began to well up in his heart; dying in hell had no consequence, every time Nappa defeated him he was revived instantly. But not this time. He sighed reluctantly, wishing he was more troubled: death didn't concern him anymore, wherever he was going, he was sure he'd just end up in hell again, and the cycle would carry on again and again, he'd never break it. And so with one last breath, Raditz channelled all his energy into his hands, which began to cackle thunderously. Every last iota of power within his command he summoned forth, and he could see Nappa was doing something similar.

Finally, the charge was over.

"DOUBLE SUNDAY!!!"

Raditz pushed both hands together to fuse up the built up energy and without a moment to spare launched it at his opponent. The bright yellow beam hit Nappa's midflight and both exploded in a bright light upon collision, sending out a fierce aura that could be detected throughout the entire planet. It shook the Earth with its violent display and blinded those watching from below, who could've mistook it for a second sun. Raditz, completely drained, sighed and closed his eyes, slipping into an uncomfortable permanent sleep.

"Senseless." joked the bald-headed brute as he noted Raditz's now nonexistent power level. He smashed his way out of some broken rubble, as the blast had knocked him headlong into the ground below. He got to his feet, but immediately fell over; the blast had taken more out of him than he'd thought. "Woah, Raditz sure packed a big one there!" he said to himself. He'd unintentionally powered down into his regular form, finding that Super Saiyan was now out of his reach from the amount of energy he'd consumed.

Nappa looked around; he was at the centre of a southern city he'd encountered some decades ago during his brief time on earth. Smiling evilly, he noted the dozens of human lives inhabiting it, and grunted irritably as he upturned his front two fingers. His ki flared out into a wild, uncontrollable blast emanating from his very body that engulfed the city in an instant, flattening every skyscraper, every home, every person in sight for miles around. The thought made him smile, until a familiar voice interrupted him.

"You're still the brainless idiot who knows only how to destroy; one would think that a man with your experience would know when to call it quits, you bald headed buffoon!!!"

With another disgruntled noise Nappa turned around to face his new enemy; it was Vegeta, poised proudly atop a rock with his arms folded like he was some kind of royalty. _Oh yeah_, remembered Nappa, _he is royalty. _

Vegeta continued, "I recommend you split town Nappa, immediately! Unless you want to be killed by me again!"

Disregarding that he'd been completely exhausted, drained out of Super Saiyan and recovering from a fight that took place less than a minute ago, Nappa rushed the saiyan prince like a madman, never stopping once to realise that he'd have no chance whatsoever until it was too late. He was overpowered by Vegeta's ki attack, and as he died screaming painfully he wondered whether his fully powered up stage would've been a match for it either.

"You completely lost control of yourself!"

* * * * *

Raditz awoke, and through hazy, water streamed eyes he could make out a line of sorts. A queue of featureless, fluffy looking souls lined up before him, and a glitzy voice spoke out loudly on a megaphone.

"All souls to the checkout please, all souls to the checkout thank you!"

Raditz got up, much to his surprise; he could get up? His muscular, six foot five form now towered above the souls in the queue to his right. He held out a palm in front of him, and fizzed some energy into it loudly, frightening three souls, he held out his other hand in apology.

_This is odd, _he figured as he stepped into the line, feeling oddly out of place among the dead, _why do I still have my body? Last time, things were much different; I was just another of these lost souls._

"Raditz?" the megaphone voice called out, and the warrior jerked his head up past the queue to the checkout, "Raditz, son of Bardock, advance to the front of the queue please, thank you!"

Looking guiltily around at his fellow deceased, Raditz stepped out of line and made his way to the front tentatively. He was led to an arched room of sorts, with pearly white surfaces and a huge mahogany desk before him. Small blue men, caretakers of the afterlife stood on guard directing souls to their destination, and behind the desk sat the enormous King Yemma, judging each one by one to discern their future. Raditz, surprised he could still activate ki, soared up to the desk and landed right in front the man, feeling insignificant in comparison to the god's huge bulk.

"Raditz!" boomed the fiendish looking giant jokingly, "Glad you could make it!"

Raditz glanced around, taking in the strange blue men approaching the front desk, ready for action as though they thought Raditz would attack their leader. "Sir, if I may ask," Raditz spoke politely to avoid any unpleasant misunderstandings, "why have I kept my body? Why haven't you sent me back to hell yet?"

"Hmm," Yemma considered thoughtfully, teasing the saiyan looking so impatiently for answers, "You _like _it inhell?"

"Of course not!" Raditz insisted.

"Well to your first question; you kept your body because you have incredible power, and the potential to become even stronger. And to the second; because you're not going back to hell."

Raditz almost face-vaulted when he heard the comment, his heart soared up into his throat, his wildest, unfathomable dreams finally come true as Yemma continued.

"We've had our eye on you for some time Raditz, but with no way to spring you out we've had to sit and watch. Now that you died again we've finally got a chance to meet, and I can offer you the training up top that you deserve."

The saiyan was truly stunned, the fact that Yemma had been keeping an eye on him all this time as a potential saviour was encouraging; he now knew that his moral exploits had not gone unnoticed, that he wasn't the only one with any kind of dignity.

"So to the north is snake way. You start immediately. Shouldn't take you long to get to the end considering your strength, but I think you'll find the prize much to your liking."

* * * * *

_Present Time:_

Nappa's eyes widened in horror as Raditz recalled his tale and he realised where exactly the long haired saiyan had been all this time. King Kai had inadvertently been the reason for Nappa's being here; if it weren't for his training and the kaio-ken, he would have squashed Kakarot in a heartbeat. He steadied himself to appear calm in the face of danger, and brought up a question to his nemesis.

"Oh so _that's _where you've been all this time." Nappa jested, noting Raditz's unwavering expression, "So tell me this little Raditz, why aren't you up there now? Did the great Kai kick you out for being so pathetic?"

Raditz flashed a small grin, which evolved slowly into a chuckle. His wild hair rocked from side to side as he hummed with laughter before he answered Nappa's question. "No Nappa. I learned all I could from King Kai, and then he sent me back down here, to learn under someone more powerful; Piccolo."

"What!?" Nappa cried, "You've been training under _him!?_" in the past Nappa had killed Picollo, but that had been years ago; he knew now from watching his battles on the viewscreen that the namek had more power and experience than either of them, and if Raditz had indeed been took on board as an apprentice it spelled bad news for him.

"Show him what you learned from me Raditz," called up Picollo suddenly; even his gruff voice caused Nappa to shudder in fear, "you can't beat him without it."

"You're right. . ."

"Show him what!?" Nappa stammered, looking back and forth between the two of them, "Show me what!?"

"Watch closely Nappa," Raditz taunted, dropping into a power-up stance, "you might learn a few things."

Raditz's hair shortened drastically and glowed with a distinctive golden light as he powered up into a super saiyan. His power rose, though without training himself to read ki signals properly Nappa had no idea what was coming. Raditz let out a stunted, pained groan as his hair grew a little further, down to just underneath his shoulders and spiked wildly like pines on a Christmas tree. His golden aura suddenly cackled to life with blue bolts of electricity, as super saiyan two was activated, fighting past the imbalanced Ultra Saiyan level. Still his power rose.

"No, no, no!" Nappa screamed, "Stop!!!" he didn't need senses to know that Raditz had far surpassed him, and his power kept rising and rising. Raditz let out a howling war cry that echoed across the cliffs so that every villain in hell could hear him.

"He's doing it!" Picollo exclaimed, "Come on Raditz just a little more!"

Vegeta and Trunks watched in marvel as more golden light flashed from their saiyan adversary. His hair dropped even further down to waist level, its original length, and his eyebrows sizzled away, protruding the thick hard bone of his brow ridge, set into a frowning glare cast at his old comrade. Raditz had ascended to Super Saiyan 3, and Nappa looked more scared than he'd ever been.

"DOUBLE SUNDAY!!!"

* * *

_  
Go Raditz! :D Again I hope you like, I had to fill in the inconsistencies about Raditz being shown with a pack of villains in GT and the fact that Nappa doesn't go Super Saiyan in his 'fight' against Vegeta. So now the roster is up to four; I will in time reintroduce all the major ones (Goku, Gohan, Goten, Uub etc.) I'd just like to do it one or two at a time so it doesn't become all cluttered and incoherent. Thanks for reading :)  
_


	5. Chapter 5 Dead or Alive

Chapter 5: Dead or Alive

Nappa disintegrated with a fearful, inhuman yell that slowly transmogrified into a whimper as he was overwhelmed by the incredible Double Sunday a Super Saiyan 3 Raditz had dished out on him. A bright yellow light filled the sky when Raditz's beam struck true, but it was quickly replaced by a blinding flash of white, at least to him and the other three Z-Fighters.

Trunks opened his eyes and looked around the second the light had subsided, they were back in the room, and it had transported once again. They'd been stood outside when it happened, so perhaps when the room leapt in time it drew them back in, as it seemed to be the case. This time however something was different, they had new arrivals, Picollo and Raditz had been zapped into the frame too, with Raditz still posed with both palms flat out in front of him, still powered up to Super Saiyan 3. He looked around, and powered down to his base rapidly, knowing that a stray blast in this form would be catastrophic.

Outside, the room didn't seem to want to settle on a particular place in time, flashing between sceneries indecisively, but that wasn't the true issue. Picollo cautiously waved his hand over his head, and noticing the change Raditz did the same thing. The wise namek kneeled down and picked up a thin golden film from the tiled room flooring. It was his halo, shattered into three main pieces, with small sparkles of it glinting on the floor like tiny glass fragments.

"Are we alive?" Raditz asked, noting that his own halo had been broken.

"I think so," Picollo guessed, "the room caused all this."

"But how come? Don't we need the Dragonballs or a grant from Yemma to come back?" Raditz stepped forwards, joining Picollo on the ledge looking out into unfathomable oblivion.

"Yes, but the room seems to have forcibly brought us out of hell. By logic we can't be dead and be out in the real world, so the jump must've accidentally brought us back."

"Well, good to have you on board; we could use another set of hands if we're gonna get out of this mess." Trunks offered.

The namek only nodded silently, and Raditz mirrored. Trunks, satisfied, turned to the wall and propped himself up against it, as he hoped to be comfortable for the long debate to come.

Picollo tried the door again, only to meet the same brick wall as before. He thought about blasting it down, if only for a second; the risk was too high, he'd rather be stuck in hell than in here.

_Goku, you promised you'd get me out of here one day, and now you don't have to. But I might be coming to get you if things get any worse down here, I've been around you long enough to know when something isn't right._

"So how long you been training here then?" Raditz was asking questions to Trunks, deeming he'd be much more willing to answer than Vegeta would be.

"Just a couple of months, and it was all going good until earlier."

"When did that hourglass get destroyed?" Raditz quizzed, looking to the broken vial of sand on the room's right side.

Trunks scratched his chin, "about an hour or two ago, so far all it's really done is replay us parts from our past, then it sent us to hell."

"Any reason why?"

"None that I can think of."

Trunks and Raditz seemed to unconsciously form an immediate friendship; both were playful and much less serious that their frightening mentors. Raditz may well have been a little stronger than Picollo now, but he still followed orders loyally from the more experienced fighter.

"So your Goku's brother, right?" Trunks finally recognised the name, "What were you doing in hell?"

Raditz paused and considered, "Let's just say I wasn't exactly a model citizen. I kidnapped Gohan, lashed Krillin into a house, and then tried to kill Kakarot and Picollo here."

"Oh," Trunks's face suddenly warped, instead of intrigue it was now one of confusion. He knew though, if his father could be redeemed of his crimes, then so to could this man. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because I ordered him to." Vegeta offered. Trunks wasn't surprised; they were both saiyans after all, and he'd heard that there were originally four that came to earth. Goku, Vegeta, Raditz, and the fourth must've been the idiot Raditz just destroyed.

"Picollo," Vegeta added, looking back to the caped namek, "any ideas on how to get out of here?"

"None so far," Picollo confessed, "We should just ride it out, hopefully the system will repair itself. In the meantime we should try and find out a way to get in touch with Dende and Mr. Popo; if we've been skipping in time over here then it might be the same on the outside, you might have only been gone for a minute, or even weeks."

"So I guess sliding a note under the brick wall won't work eh?" joked Raditz.

Trunks chuckled, but was quickly silenced by his father's harsh stare.

"No Raditz, it won't."

The outside void began to shift again, this time slowly, like a programme loading up on a PC screen. The four found themselves looking out over a darkened grey wasteland of rock and cliffs, riddled with dead trees and hawking crows among them. In the distance, some four or five miles away stood a colossal spire, thrust out of the ground like a sharp black dagger. It rose up over a hundred storeys in height, its walls impenetrable to any punch or kick or ki blast of any kind. Between it and them, lined up like soldiers on the scorched battlefield were four men:

They were dressed in grey fabric leggings and had bare chests, exposing refined, chiselled muscles. Something however was odd about each of them. On their torsos each was a large, spherical tattoo of a clock, and each pointed to a different hour in time. From left to right, one indicated one o'clock, the second two o'clock, the third three o'clock, and the fourth, surprisingly, five o'clock. From their individual ki signals they also went up in power with each being incredibly powerful. Of the eight warriors present, the adversary farthest right, with a tattoo showing the hour of five o'clock, was the most powerful of them all.

"My, my. Picollo and Raditz, what an extraordinary combination!" he called out, showing that unlike Picollo and Raditz previously, he could clearly see the room and its inhabitants. Apparently he'd been expecting them, it was too much of a coincidence to be random, these men bode ill, and the Z-Fighters would have to fight. "But _you four _do not concern us. Tell me where is the one you call Goku? My master and I would much enjoy a chat with him."

An irritated Picollo approached the edge of the room's borders, pushing past Raditz and Trunks, who looked more scared than angered. "He's not here!" he barked, "But maybe you'd like to tell us exactly who you are, and what the hell is going on around here!"

The Z-Fighters watched closely as the leading man, as well as his three friends began to chuckle amongst themselves. Vegeta snarled savagely, his anger apparent in his ki signal.

"How very rude of me." The man spoke politely, as all four stopped just fifteen metres or so from the room's ledge, taunting them into attacking. "My name is Quintus, this is Primus," He gestured to the man furthest left, sporting a one o'clock positioned clock tattoo.

"Secundus," he motioned to the second,

"and Tertius." finished Quintus, introducing the man beside him. "And we've summoned you here to simply ask you where Goku is."

"What exactly do you want with my brother?" Raditz finally perked up.

"My master seeks an audience with the man who claims to be the most powerful in the universe."

Trunks objected as he placed a wary hand on the hilt of his weapon "Hey, Goku never _claimed _anything!"

"Nevertheless, he seems to have proven to be so many times before. My master is what you might call a competitive man; seeing someone else take the title as the greatest offends him, and he wishes to claim this label for himself. We've been keeping an eye on him for some time now, but with no way to reach him we've never been able to ascertain contact. That was, until your modest little vessel of time, or as you call it, 'the room' slipped out of balance. After we take it from you though, there will be one other problem. . ."

The four fighters suppressed a retort at the notion that this man was going to take the room from them, and dropped into their respective stances.

"Since a number of months ago, Goku has disappeared from our view. My master is the lord of space and time; he sees all in this universe, but for some reason, Goku has not appeared anywhere to him. So we ask you. Where is he?"

"We don't know," Picollo paused, looking straight into Quintus's cold, dead eyes, "and even if we did, our answer would be the same: Go to hell. If you're looking to find him and kill him, you'll find him all right, but you'll be sorry you ever concerned yourself with him."

"Is that so. . ." Quintus looked more intrigued and mystified than scared, the impression Picollo was supposed to leave upon him.

Suddenly Vegeta, out of nowhere, pushed in between Picollo and Raditz to make room for himself; he'd gone unspoken long enough in the presence of this unknown. "Let me put it to you this way," he growled, letting a taunting smirk come to his lips, "when Kakarot departed, he and I were on equal footing. So why journey across the universe to find this man? The most powerful warrior in the universe: The prince of all Saiyans, is standing right before you. A challenge to Kakarot is a challenge to me."

Vegeta certainly put across a good point. He neglected to mention that without blutzwaves he was unable to access super saiyan four, but what he said made sense in a roundabout way. Any man with pride or dignity would've took up Vegeta's offer or at least be fearful of his claim, but Quintus only sniggered.

"I'm afraid my master has no time for trash like you Vegeta. Run home now, you're far out of your league."

"What did you say!?" An enraged Vegeta stepped forwards off the platform and took his first step onto solid brown rock, making for Quintus immediately.

"Vegeta no!" called Picollo, but the damage had been done.

At Vegeta's first step he suddenly disappeared, along with Quintus before the eyes of the fighters, transported by means of teleportation to some faraway place. Raditz followed the saiyan prince recklessly and disappeared with Tertius. Picollo chased his student departed with Secundus, and finally Trunks fizzled away with Primus, leaving the room hovering an inch or two above ground, deserted and lonely in the middle of a hundred mile stretch of barren plateau.

* * * * *

Vegeta stood amidst a wide open void surrounded by complete emptiness. It was almost identical to the one that the Room of Spirit and Time had originally born, though with small differences. There was no finely decorated, luxury two bedroom apartment overlooking. Now there was just a platter of enormous TV screens thrust out of the ground, three to be exact. Each was close to five hundred inches wide, and each showed a Z-Fighter in crisp, high quality video. His son, in the left screen, looked frightened and confused. Picollo, in the centre, thoughtful and conservative. While Raditz on the far right plasma looked frustrated, jerking his head from side in the identical void as though he was looking for something.

"Welcome Vegeta. Did you like my little trick?"

Vegeta whirled around to meet Quintus, walking towards him through the void, striding certain footsteps despite it being difficult to see exactly where the floor was.

"Taunting me into stepping out of that room so that you could separate us with your little magic," Vegeta summarised, "a handy trick."

Quintus smiled an odd sneer as he looked proud that the man had acknowledged his abilities.

"But you should know," the saiyan continued, "that it won't hinder _my_ strength. A true warrior fights alone, as I have always stated, so I should really be thanking you! With those three out of the way I'll be able to fight at full strength with no risk to them."

Vegeta cast an abstract sideways glance over to the three view screens. Picollo and Raditz seemed to have calmed, but Trunks still looked fearful as ever, separated from the other three more powerful fighters he was all alone to face some new villain. _Come on Trunks, snap out of it! _The prince cursed to himself, _He's grown soft; all these years of not facing a worthy adversary have made him scared._

Quintus only smiled amusedly at Vegeta's comments, and calmly continued.

"Tell me where Goku is."

Vegeta laughed the statement off with a snort of laughter, as if the prospect of telling the man anything was a laughable joke.

"Your room strayed into our dimension; that means _we _control where it goes in space, and in time." said Quintus, "And once we defeat you and your pathetic friends we will take it and find him for ourselves. It'd just be much easier for you to tell us now so I'll only ask you once again: Tell us where he is."

"What makes you think I'd tell you even if I _did _know!?" exclaimed the prince, squaring his shoulders to the new adversary, shrugging off the distractions, "Kakarot is a warrior; and if he doesn't want to be found while he's training he won't be. I offer you one chance to leave Quintus, and I suggest you take it." Vegeta's tone became harsh at his final sentence, giving his voice an edge that conveyed something of a final warning.

Quintus sighed, and ran a hand through short, thick chestnut locks of his hair. The battlefield suddenly began to morph at their feet, spanning out into a harsh rocky wasteland, filled with chasms and ancient resting places of previous battles fought here. The only thing that remained constant was the fighters themselves, and the three screens showing his comrades' actions, propped up onto a nearby cliff face. Quintus and Vegeta prepared for battle.

* * *

_Actually had this Chapter weeks ago, just forgot to upload it. . . Whoops. Oh well, it just means you get another tommorow :D Oh yeah and I read over it again, only just noticed the TFS reference in the last chapter: I swear I didn't mean to call King Yemma's desk 'mahogany' on purpose xD Must be unconscious influence or something. And yes, baddies representing different hours of the clock: verrry original, I thought it sounded good at the time, and their names are Latin for one, two, three etc. Oh well, enjoy anyway._


	6. Chapter 6 Picollo's Demise?

Chapter 6: Picollo's Demise?

Picollo stood, poised and utterly composed opposite his new foe. He'd paid attention to everything these threats had said and kept mostly quiet. He thought silently as he listened, and kept absently focussed on three screens to his left, depicting the battles of Trunks, Raditz and Vegeta.

Secundus faced him, a tall man, taller than the other three who had accompanied him, though still a little short compared to the namek's frame of seven foot five inches. He was thin, lanky, almost undernourished in his physique which didn't exactly scream warrior material, and his mysterious clock tattoo sported an hour hand pointing to two o'clock.

"Do you understand Picollo? I want to know where Goku is!" he added, his voice a little higher than average pitch, in stark contrast to Picollo's own.

"I don't know where Goku is," the namek finally replied, "but I do understand a few things of my own." Picollo gestured to his chest, pointing out what seemed to be obvious to him, though the other three had failed to notice, "Those markings on your chests, they represent your strength in comparison to one another, don't they." it was more of a declarative statement than a question, he'd noticed as soon as they arrived that the Primus, showing one o'clock had been the weakest, and Quintus, five o'clock, had been the strongest.

Secundus nodded in affirmation, his elongated neck wrinkling as he did so.

"If that's true, then there must be twelve of you in total."

Secundus said nothing, Picollo carried on.

"Making you the second weakest."

"But still more than powerful enough to defeat scum like you!" Secundus snapped. His tone was the only confirmation Picollo needed.

"We'll see." said the namek, in a bid to wind up the man even further, "If I had to guess, I'd say the room was separated from space and time when Vegeta destroyed part of it, and it allowed you to take hold of it."

Secundus once again said nothing in reply, which once again confirmed to Picollo that his theory was right.

"Now you said you've had your eye on Goku for some time, but you obviously couldn't get to him without something to transport you there, something that can slip through dimensions like the Room of Spirit and Time. So you want to hijack it and take it to Earth and hopefully find Goku."

"What my master wishes will be." said Secundus, willingly showing his unwavering loyalty.

"What exactly are you?"

"I, Picollo, am a Vicis." Secundus revealed.

"A what?"

"A Vicis, an overseer of space and time. You may think of us as a parallel to the Kais in our own dimension, but I assure you we are far stronger. The Kais are mere ants compared to the power of my master."

"Which brings me to my next question: Your master, Is he number twelve?"

For the first time Secundus looked scared, completely stricken with fear at someone else even mentioning the awesome power of his master.

"No. . ." he breathed, eyes wide in a terrified remorse, "He's much worse than number twelve. . . Far worse. My master is the lord of all space and time, it was he who possesses the power to manipulate your precious room to his every whim, and it is he who wishes to meet Goku. It only saddens me that he will not get his wish."

"Why is that?"

"Of the twelve of us, Quattrus, number four and Quintus; number five, are easily a match for Goku. Seni, number six, and everyone beyond, would destroy him."

"Somehow I think you've underestimated Goku."

"We've witnessed every single fight of his over the years, every movement, every blast, every technique. Trust me Picollo, among us there are two equal to Goku in strength, and another seven far more powerful."

"Maybe, but I doubt it." Picollo grunted. The two were silent for just a few moments before the namek carried on. "I have another question: w-"

Secundus cut him off mid-sentence, "Enough questions, Picollo, you've learned quite enough already."

Picollo grinned, "If you're so reluctant then why did you answer my questions before?"

"Because unlike me, namek, you won't be alive to tell anyone the information you've learned!"

Secundus dropped into a ready combat stance, and noting this, Picollo mirrored, just in time.

The Vicis disappeared from view, and reappeared just behind Picollo, aiming a powerful fist into his back. The experienced namek however had seen this trick before; it was just a matter of being fast enough to dodge. Luckily, he was. Picollo side-stepped, and with some difficulty managed to escape Secundus's move, making his fist drive only into the thin fabric of his swaying bleach white cape before his green elbow was smashed into the man's face, knocking him back with a bruised jaw.

"Pretty good, namek!" Secundus complimented, Picollo only nodded. The man rushed him again, this time feet first in a brave double footed kick. Picollo knocked away the move, but was quickly met with a powerful ki blast to stomach by Secundus's spinning form. This time the namek was the one to be knocked back, sporting a powerful burn mark to his chest. He'd have to be on better guard, this guy knew a trick or two.

"But I'm better!" continued Secundus.

In a flash, both fighters disappeared in a burst of super speed and clashed dead centre, fists first. Both expertly concealed the pain of a thousand mile per hour fist bump, and began a complex exchange. Picollo started, throwing a barrage of powerful fists and claws into the man. Secundus dodged and blocked what he could as both sailed around the arena. They were fast; Picollo's hands moved as fast as they'd allow, managing to block or dodge or parry most of the man's moves, but he was still pushing his limit. He didn't know exactly how much of his power this man was using, but if it was little then he'd be in trouble. He knew one thing though; this man was a worthy adversary. He'd not had a serious fight like this since his matchup against Android Seventeen over twenty five years ago.

Finally, amongst a blitz of lightning fast punches and kicks, Picollo saw an opening. He ducked out of a quick barrage and landed a massive punch to Secundus's chest, sending the man hurtling down as a tall white bullet into the rocks below, where the namek fired a bright yellow ki beam after him. The cliff face exploded upon the beam's impact into a landslide and small falling debris like a miniature meteor shower. Smoke rose up from the hollowed out cave, and Picollo hovered above warily. He didn't emerge.

"Get up Secundus." called down Picollo in a relaxed, almost bored fashion, he'd seen this trick too many times to count, "I know you can take more than that."

Secundus slowly hovered from the smoking ruin, his left ribcage burned and grazed and the fabric of his trousers burned away at the right shin exposing a thin, seemingly fragile bony leg. He let out a laboured breath, which was mirrored by Picollo, who couldn't quite manage to conceal his fatigue. Secundus rushed him again, this time disappearing every second, darting side to side as he approached fast. Picollo aimed an uppercut to his left, but the man surprised him by coming from the right. He landed a clean hook on the namek's cheek to send him flying, and then pursued the limp, dazed namek.

In midflight Secundus grabbed the collar of Picollo's mysterious cape, and immediately began to pound on the namek's face with his right hand. He repeated this with ten powerful smashes, then his fists became quicker; they flew at an incredible speed, bashing Picollo's face in from all angles as the fearsome new foe shrieked with laughter, excited by the pain his victim was experiencing, enjoying the namek's purple blood wash across his arms. Finally, Picollo managed to regain control, and jerked his head out of a lighting jab before driving his forehead into Secundus's nose. He grabbed the man's arm and threw him down into the rubble, watching him skid like a hockey puck across the rock fields, kicking up tracks of rubble.

Picollo halted, hovering high above and attempted to wipe blood from his face with the material of his cape. Secundus stood, and both stared each other down.

"Very good Picollo; really, quite extraordinary. You've improved greatly from the last battle of yours we witnessed; I must say you have me surprised."

Picollo remained wordless, and only stared hard at Secundus with a vicious smile before he continued.

"So, with that warm up out of the way, what say we commence the _real _fight eh?"

_Warm up!? _Picollo thought, trying desperately not to let his surprise be shown, _So this guy does have reserves, I'm almost fighting at full power right now!_

Secundus leapt back onto a solid rock outcropping and dropped into a combat stance, and suddenly the broad clock face tattoo on his chest began to move. The two hands began to spin and bend, morphing hypnotically, swaying in different directions, passing and intertwining with one another before they started to spin cohesively faster than common eyes could keep up with. The hands spun round and round and Secundus's ki signal began to soar with a high pitch war cry.

Picollo, apprehensively, threw off his turban, and it dropped like the tonne heavy weight it was to the ground below. He also removed his cape, feeling his shoulders and entire upper body loosen up thanks to removing the huge mass the shoulder pads carried. He began to power up, drawing huge amounts of energy into his system. He ascended far into the super namekian level, and far beyond that to even greater heights. The air around them shook with fright for a minute or two, and finally subsided as the two completed their ascensions. Secundus's tattoo stopped its frenzied spinning and halted back to the two o'clock signal. Raw energy pervaded the atmosphere like a spreading cloud of dust, and all nearby ravens and crows in the trees had fled due to the violent tremors.

"Now it begins." said Secundus.

"Now it begins." Picollo agreed. He then split neatly into two identical forms, and both mirroring Picollos began zigzagging across one another to approach the enemy. Secundus advanced, and Picollo homed in on him, attacking him from both the front and back at the same time. One aimed for a right hook, which Secundus ducked, right into the driving left knee of the second multi-form Picollo. He soared through the air, and regained total control just in time to warp out of the way of a Masenko wave, and again came face to face the fist of the other Picollo. He soared into a nearby rock face, splat back first against the wall, watching the two Picollo's resume their attack, this time he was ready.

With impossible speed Secundus flew at the nearest Picollo and grabbed him firmly by the ankles, swinging him around like a ragdoll. Finally, the next Picollo turned and flew at him, but Secundus simply used his own hostage as a meat shield, and one flew into the other, unintentionally re-fusing into one being with a squelch. Before he had time to take in the movements of a single body again, Secundus had slammed his elbow into Picollo's jaw. He soared, dazed and confused towards the ground, but managed a quick recovery. He turned and fired a beam into the sky.

"Special Beam Cannon!"

It was a lazy attack; a waste of energy, one that had little real power or accuracy behind it, one that Secundus easily drifted away from. Secundus, strangely, put his hands out in from of him vertically, and spread his fingers wide apart. Picollo eyed him cautiously, and it was just in time that he managed to realise that one of Secundus's techniques was imminent. Blue flashes appeared at his fingertips, and suddenly large shards of glinting, deep cobalt flew from his fingers towards the namek. Picollo ducked, weaved and ran out of the way of a thousand of these strange energy waves. They shone brightly, but due to their thinness and large surface area it made them hard to see when they came flat at him. He blasted a couple out of the sky, and kept tiresomely ducking out of the way. Finally, the attack stopped, and the namek batted the last shard away with a clawed green paw.

The two continued a stare down, but then Picollo noticed something. His hand; the one that he'd used to deflect the last incoming bolt had been cut, which told him one thing: These attacks must've been razor sharp. As the familiar purple blood trickled down his hand he pumped it into a fist, and thought about what would've happened if he'd tried to take that attack head on. He'd have been cut to ribbons into tiny little pieces, and so he vowed silently to watch out for that attack.

Secundus made another move, charging straight at the namek hovering slightly over ground, his afterimage chasing him. Picollo bent low and came up hard with a rising clawed uppercut that knocked Secundus into the sky. Once again, Picollo sent a massive Masenko wave after him. He smiled as it connected, the whole ravine was lit up with yellow light and a pluming mushroom cloud filled the sky after his devastating blow. If Secundus wasn't dead after that, he'd be in no position to fight. The namek lifted from the floor slowly and hovered up to the site of impact.

Suddenly, Picollo sensed a flash of energy, right inside the column of rising smoke, and a blue thunder-like flash emanated from within. _No way!_ He thought. The namek tried to throw up his hands to defend himself from the incoming attack but by then it was too late. The razor sharp sheet of cobalt, glass-like energy pierced toughened skin, muscle, throat, and bone. He felt the incredible pain as his neck began to separate, and a pained growl was cut short by the severing of his windpipe. Picollo's vision went black, and as his decapitated head sailed comically away from his falling torso, Secundus knew he was no more.

* * *

_NNNOOOOOOOOO PICOLLO!!!!!!!! Heh, relax, most've you'll know what's coming, those that don't, I won't spoil it ;) Any chance of a review anyone? I've got a fair few followers but not many reviews, any kind of feedback would be great, no pressure though. Thanks for reading _


	7. Chapter 7 Trunks's Limits

Chapter 7: Trunks's Limits

Without the comfort and security of his father, Picollo, or even the excitable newcomer Raditz, Trunks felt lost and hopeless when confronted with this great adversary. Their base powers matched rather evenly, but that didn't help sway the young man's anxiety. Someone had always been close by during his fights ready to jump in at any given moment, but this time he was on his own. He cursed himself privately for being so hesitant, this wasn't what he should've been like; as a child he'd been young and fearless to a fault, but with his age came the bitter realisation of his own mortality, and it made him scared to act.

Primus was a small man, standing no taller than Krillin was, wearing torn, faded trousers and beaten sandals. His face was a shadowed, toothy sneer accompanied by a gross hunchback. One eye was opened wide with excitement, the other, lazy and tiresome.

After hearing all that Picollo had to say through the digital screens the Vices had generously offered, Trunks regained a little optimism.

"So you're the weakest, huh?" he taunted, causing an irritable look to cross his foe's deformed features. He took it as a yes, as indicated by his reaction as well as the broad chest tattoo pointing to one o'clock - the first hour, the weakest member. _Come on Trunks_, he nagged to himself, _snap out of it. He's the runt of the group, surely you can beat this guy? But then again, so are you._

The two enemies rushed each other again, high kick met with right straight and both became suspended in midair. Trunks swerved out of the lock and came up with his over foot to make a swift kick to Primus's neck. He spat a mouthful of saliva from the blow as Trunks pursued him midflight. Trunks attacked with a ready fist, and the Vicis disappeared.

"Behind you!" Primus appeared to his right and landed Trunks with a powerful three punch combination that left him dazed, whereupon he blasted a strong ki attack to his chest. Trunks's overcoat was tattered and torn into smoking rags; he threw it off without a second thought, leaving him with just a skin-tight black tank top, exposing his newly developed form. Primus zoomed in once again, homing as a small, hunchbacked missile in what seemed like an attempted headbutt on his behalf, one which Trunks swept sideways to avoid, and slammed a knee into hard into his face. With a zip of untraceable speed both rocketed their way around the hillside, and collided with a high speed exchange. Punches flew like machinegun bullets, and each blocked and dodged in a flurry of blurry movement. Being shorter, Primus aimed mostly to Trunks's torso, which he took note of. He parried low with lightning fast right arm and smashed a controlled left punch into Primus's wide open eye with a satisfying _smack! _

Primus recoiled, but to Trunks's amazement his head jerked back to full height almost instantly, as he flew up, forehead connecting with Trunks's nose with sickening pain. The man blinked his vision clear, tasting fresh blood roll down from his nose. Even if he _was _the worst, this guy packed a punch. He flew back towards Trunks like an arrow, but he was ready. In a well practiced move, Trunks withdrew the longsword he'd kept sheathed until now on his back and held it over his head. Primus saw the move, and swerved into a barrel roll to avoid, but not before his left side suffered a deep cut from the man's powerful swing.

The Vicis clutched the wound, and rasped a deep, painful breath. Trunks smiled as the edge of his blade tasted fresh blood, and readied it into a stance for continuation. The cut was damaging, but not enough to cripple or put Primus out of action. He never lost his ugly, bucktoothed smirk that made Trunks want to hurt him even more. Despite himself, Trunks found himself actually enjoying the battle; in the past he'd been too focussed and calculative to savour the moment, but now the feeling mirrored that of his at a young age, carelessly sparring with Goten; the buzz he got from a powerful connection excited him, as it was all part of that saiyan lust that he'd ignored for too long. Vegeta's words however, now echoed in his ears. In training with his father, the Prince had taught him a piece of useful information about the sword he'd taught himself to use. When in defence it was too heavy to lift quickly and block an equal enemy's fast attacks, so one had to remain on the offence constantly if it was to be wielded properly, so that the enemy never got a chance to attack.

Bearing in mind his father's words, Trunks reinitiated his attack. He dashed towards Primus, slashing forwards, taking advantage of his large shoulder muscles. Primus looked back to his foe and dodged with a cool hop backwards, but this didn't stop Trunks. He chased his foe, and as soon as Primus was in range Trunks unleashed a barrage of swipes and stabs at his enemy at high speed, slashing seemingly random directions like a madman just escaped from an asylum. Primus ducked, weaved and bent joints in awkward placed to avoid Trunks's onslaught, but even he couldn't evade the attacks completely. He suffered another slash to his leg and a vicious stab glanced across his ribs, but all the while he kept moving until finally, he disappeared from view.

A hard kick slammed into Trunks's back, and before he could retaliate he'd been dragged by his combed mop of lavender hair and hurled face first into a nearby hill. Swallowing soot and dried mud, Trunks skidded across the floor, coming face to face with one the plasma screens. Picollo seemed to be on top, triumphing against an enemy as evil as he once was. Then, a sudden revelation struck the young man. He'd been so dependant on these authority figures he recently clung to; Picollo, Vegeta, Raditz. But were these the ideal role models? Each had their malicious streaks from before he was born, even, no, _especially_, his own father. While it troubled him to think of his father in such ways, it made the Trunks realise that, while they were great friends and allies, he didn't _need _them to be around in his fight, they weren't perfect; nowhere near the summit of moral high ground he'd idolised them to be. Like them, he could fight his battles on his own, regardless of anyone's approval.

Trunks rose and took stance with his sword, and with a hum of rising ki he ascended into the first level of Super Saiyan, and kept on going. Super Saiyan 2 came into being, and he sank comfortably into his maximum power. He didn't need anyone around for now; this was _his _battle, and it'd end the way he wanted it to. Primus stopped, realising that Trunks's ki had elevated. He stopped, and with surreal hypnotism the dials on his tattoo clock began to spin and whirl as he powered up. The power-up was identical to Secundus's, and after watching this in the fight between he and Picollo, Trunks assumed that the concentration for all the Vices was the same process. He had to fight to stop himself becoming fixated in the shifting ink, and kept his eyes firmly locked onto those of his opponent, contorted into a fiery gleam of anger and eccentric madness.

He rushed Trunks, slamming a great fist into his unguarded chest, and Trunks was taken back almost immediately by how much the man had powered up. He hopped back in recovery, completely focussed, but Primus had already disappeared. A kick came out of nowhere, and Trunks set off into the sky to avoid it, just. One more fraction of a second and he'd have been on the receiving end of that kick. Not wasting any time, Trunks launched a flurry of small ki bombs out of the sky with his free hand to rain down on his opponent, who'd swiftly gotten back to his feet and was now flying straight towards Trunks, phasing between his shots like they were at a snail's pace to him. Primus circled into a wild, spinning kick, and Trunks timed a knee. It connected, but so did Primus's move, which battered down hard on Trunks's forearm, knocking the sword out of his hand.

As the two separated, Primus rubbed at his aching shoulder that the man had drove his knee into, and Trunks had a feeling that the move was deliberate; he could fight Trunks easier with fists, and knew that if he was to disarm him, he'd have to take a hit first. Trunks swore to himself, cursing his foolishness as his sword clattered to the ground. He thought of dashing after it, but Primus's watchful gaze told him that the second he made for it the hunchbacked Vicis would be right behind him.

'_Don't get distracted! It is important for you to never lose sight of your goal during a battle!' _Vegeta's wise words ran clear in his mind, and Trunks refocused on his enemy. His father's teachings and constant critiques were now permanently embedded into his fighting style; every time he felt himself slipping up he'd quickly correct himself. Primus extended his hands, holding his fingers to points like guns, and Trunks eyed the man with apprehension. He clicked his fingers, and two golden green beams shot from his two index fingers at a blistering speed. Trunks instinctively twisted his body to avoid the first, but it didn't stop the second slamming into his ribs, the force sending him spinning off balance where Primus caught him and ran a fist into his face.

Trunks sailed, and landed hard on the grass below, his body making a small crater in the dirt. Primus launched a ki beam that narrowly missed Trunks as he rolled out of the way for a quick recovery. He breathed deeply as the Vicis descended slowly, forebodingly towards him, and for the first time in a while he felt true fear. Primus had increased so much in strength and speed that he was now almost impossible for him to keep up with. _'Never be afraid!' _Vegeta wailed in his mind, _'It'll only worsen your chances!'_ The man took his father's words on board and tried desperately to push all the anxiety to one side, but as one would expect, it was easier said than done. Primus landed, and without hesitation Trunks rushed him, wildly, angrily and without fear, though clumsily too. Primus slid graciously to his left and held out a forearm that Trunks painfully ran into, before receiving another powerful kick to the chest, sending him into another small hill.

Trunks's vision blurred and all senses dulled dramatically. His arms, legs, his whole body numb except for his shattered ribs on his lower right hand side that seethed with pain. His face was bruised, bleeding profusely, and he tasted blood on his tongue. Lazily, he rolled over, finding himself face to face with one of the battle screens provided. Picollo's Masenko wave completely devoured Secundus; at least someone was having a better time of it than he was. He wished to see Vegeta's battle, and even Raditz's, but his condition made him unable to stand. _'Never look away from your opponent!' _Vegeta's comments haunted him, as suddenly Primus drove a powerful fist into Trunks's stomach; he launched forwards and coughed up blood, his eyes wide with pain as he felt Primus's fist threatening to tear a hole into him.

Just when he'd done it; just when Trunks had come to a point where fighting had begun to feel natural again, he'd fallen almost instantly. He knew that if he ever met his father in the afterlife he'd be disappointed. Primus stepped over Trunks and began throwing harsh punches at his face, each one turning his head to one side to welcome the next. Trunks accepted the pain, and offered little resistance other than feebly raising his arms in an attempt to stop him. The world span and his vision became cloudier with each hit, he glimpsed Picollo's screen every few seconds as the smoke from his beam began to rise. _'Do as I instruct and I promise you will reach the third level of Super Saiyan.' _Oh yeah, Trunks thought, sure I will, right after I'm finished being beaten to a pulp I'm sure we can resume training. And he'd been close too; the second level was under his complete mastery, so it made sense that the third was close by, within his grasp, he just hadn't tapped into it yet.

Trunks caught sight of the viewscreen once again, as a blue flash and a ki attack sharp as glass hit Picollo, and severed his head right from his body.

"Picollo!!!" Trunks managed to cry out.

'_When you fight, keep your goal clear in sight. Remember why you fight, and who you're fighting for, then you'll be able to make the most of your potential.'_

Trunks thought of his father, of his mother, of his friends, all the people who he'd fought alongside during the years, and especially Picollo, who'd just had his own life unfairly taken from him for the third time. All of them had always put nothing less than their absolute faith in him, and he was about to meet them with disappointment with the ending of his own life unless he pull something out of the hat.

Primus laughed a sickening chuckle as he continued to pound on Trunks, he was a psychotic man no different to the rest of the villains the Z-Fighters had faced over the years, and being the weakest of his own group, he felt proud that he'd beaten such a warrior of Trunks's level, right up until Trunks's hand suddenly flew up and grabbed his incoming fist. Primus had been too caught up to realise that in fact Trunks's power level had been rising by the second, his aura burned with a bright golden flame and his eyes were rolled back into their sockets, white with fury. Unfazed, Primus threw his other fist, but it was loosely batted away. He pulled and pulled on his hand to try and free it from Trunks's grasp, but it was no use. Trunks got to his feet, keeping hold of Primus's fist, twisting it around to his will to get the short Vicis on his knees, looking right up at him. Trunks was glowing now; his hair began to flow more smoothly and descend down to his knees in an unmistakeable transformation.

"Oh no, no no no!" the Vicis wailed, but his scream was cut off by Trunks landing a harsh kick to his face, one second he'd been beating the saiyan up, and the next he was flying through the air. Trunks disappeared, and in a flash he was right behind Primus, his transformation now complete, eyes bright green in colour, sword back in hand.

"No!!!!"

Trunks poured his lifeforce into the sword's edge and brought it down vertically. The blade penetrated skin, muscle and bone, and he carried it on, slashing down before him to cut Primus right in half. He was dead before he separated fully, but that didn't stop the newly ascended Trunks blowing him to pieces with an exploding ki wave from the palm of his hand. Primus's energy signal evaporated.

Trunks looked at his hands and let out a triumphant chuckle, watching huge amounts of energy surge into his hands like they were nothing as he descended slowly to the hills below. He maintained the transformation, but he could see what everyone meant super saiyan 3 using up a lot of energy. Fortunately for him, he hadn't used it enough to be completely drained, but he was exhausted nonetheless. He dropped to his knees and breathed deeply, trying to feel comfortable in the form; he wanted to sustain it just long enough so that he could meet his father in it, because he feared the moment he powered down he might lose it.

His injuries were still pretty extreme, and Trunks was in no fit state to fight again until he'd had a senzu bean, which was why he was so shocked when out of the sky Secundus suddenly appeared, fresh out of his victory from Picollo. He landed, and began to walk towards Trunks.

"Oh that's just not fair!" Trunks exclaimed, wearily getting to his feet. He didn't know exactly how long he could last against a more powerful foe, but it couldn't have been very long in this tiring new form.

"I must say Trunks, your friend Picollo was quite the handful; gave me quite a hard time."

Trunks only snarled in response.

"But he's gone now, and seeing as we've both just destroyed both our opponents, how about we fill in the blanks for one another?"

Trunks raised his sword threateningly, though the full weight quivered under his weak grip.

Secundus continued in a mocking fashion. "Oh well, that's not a very nice gesture, I thought we could go about our business like adults, Trunks."

A gruff voice suddenly sounded from behind the Vicis, Secundus seemed to have forgotten something. Despite claiming to know everything about his enemies, he'd left out a crucial ability that would inevitably be his downfall.

"Yeah well I got a gesture for you!" came the familiar voice.

Secundus whirled around in horror, coming face to face with Picollo, the man he'd just seen decapitated with his own eyes. Two fingers were pressed to the namek's head, both almost exploding with energy, his attack fully charged.

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!!!"

* * *

_I meant to do this ages ago but I've had loads going on lately, been mega stressed, poor little me. Oh well here it is, of course Picollo isn't dead, he's died enough times in Dragonball and I wouldn't want to put him through it again =D_


	8. Chapter 8 Raditz

Chapter 8: Raditz's Surprise

Tertius and Raditz collided with an earth shattering force and reverberated from each other before hitting again. They whizzed around like pinballs in a washing machine, occasionally hitting one another, neither coming out on top. They'd been at this for a short while now, with Raditz in his Super Saiyan 1 stage, and he was already beginning to get sick of it.

The planet whizzed by at breakneck speed, so fast that Raditz couldn't even tell where Tertius had transported them to, and he didn't even want to know where. All that mattered to him was enjoying the fight while it lasted and getting back to his friends, for they were his friends now, or at least he hoped they were. Vegeta had seemed reserved at first, but his son accepted him rather quickly, so the prince was bound to follow suit. The fact that Raditz wasn't even using a fraction of his full power yet was boring enough, though from what he'd seen on the monitors the worst was yet to come. Tertius hadn't powered up yet, so he'd just have to make him transform.

After a powerful collision, Raditz bounced right off Tertius and both curved midflight back after each other, though this time something would be different. Faster than the speed of light, Raditz arched his body midflight and feinted into a corkscrew. With astounding precision he managed to slip right under the speeding Vicis and grab him by the legs just in time. He kept a tight hold and ploughed further towards the ground, letting go at just the last second to make Tertius crash with incredible speed into the ground. Raditz slowed himself and bounced back to the ground into stance, noting that his opponent seemed to be more comfortable in the air.

Dust billowed from Tertius's crater as he calmly stepped out of it, brushing his finely combed hair to one side.

"Alright enough." Raditz called out, "We've been playing this little warm-up for long enough. I've seen what you Vicis can do." he jerked his thumb over to the screens providing entertainment, "So why don't you quit stalling and show me your full power?"

"Hmm." Tertius considered.

It was like this with all battles, no one wanted to lay down their best hand until their opponent did first; those were the unspoken rules of fighting. It was as though powering up first was a sign of weakness; so many battles involved the two parties doing it at the same time.

"I was watching your battle with that fool, Nappa was it?" Tertius finally spoke.

Raditz nodded, brushing dust casually from his jet black gi.

"I assume that was your full power."

Raditz paused for a moment, unsure of whether to give the truth. "Yes." he finally settled on. It occurred to him that though the Vicis may have been keeping an eye on the individual Z-Fighters, they'd know nothing of him, and he could use that knowledge to his advantage. He smiled, noting how he'd begun to think strategically like Picollo.

"Well then," Said Tertius, parting his hair for the third time since they spoke with a finger, "show me it, and I promise I won't disappoint."

Raditz smiled. From what he'd seen on the other monitors, Primus and Secundus wouldn't be able to stand up to a full power Super Saiyan 3. He knew that by having a three o'clock tattoo, Tertius must've been more powerful, but how much more powerful? He braced into a power-up pose, clenching both fists and bending his knees and elbows, beginning to concentrate his energy.

The hairs on Raditz's head began to stand on end and shocking bolts of electricity stuttered around him as Super Saiyan 2 came into focus, though he didn't stop there. His hair suddenly thickened further, and his eyebrows dissipated into a thick brow ridge. His practiced Super Saiyan 3 form came into power, as did Tertius's, sporting a level of power that almost mirrored him.

Tertius suddenly reinitiated his favourite move, now fully powered up to his maximum. He took off from the ground, and began to whiz around the battlefield as a pinball whizzing afterimage, changing direction every second or two in a display of extreme agility before diving for the newly ascended Raditz. The saiyan sprung lightly out of the way, and launched a small ki wave after his attacker that missed. Missed by miles, by the time the beam collided with the far mountains Tertius had began another series of attacks, darting around and after Raditz. He homed in on the saiyan again, but Raditz shot up into the air to avoid. Sadly though, Tertius dove after him. Raditz cursed himself for falling right into the enemy's plan of fighting in the air as Tertius landed the first punch to his nose. Raditz spun, and before the Vicis could do any more he made for the ground, and landed safely.

He could see Tertius, tearing up the air like a schizophrenic bullet high above before finally deciding on a direction, right at Raditz. He braced himself, watching the man close in, and readied a fist. Raditz swung a massive uppercut, way too late. Tertius was too fast; he noted Raditz's movements and sped up to intercept them, headbutting Raditz right in the face to send him skidding along the soft ground. He got to his knees, and put a hand to his aching nose, feeling warm blood trickle down from it, cursing his own stupidity.

Not only was Tertius fast but he packed a wallop too, and Raditz would need to pick up the pace if he wanted to keep up. Tertius landed, his blurry form finally solidifying into a still body some ten metres away from Raditz.

"Do you like where I've brought you Raditz?" Tertius began smoothly.

The saiyan looked around, suddenly remembering the place. He was surrounded by boring green plains sporting mountains in the far distance; this was the place where he'd died. To make things worse he could see everything, the spot where he'd blasted off Picollo's arm, the burning fuselage where Gohan had burst out of his pod and crippled him, and the spot where Picollo's special beam cannon had tore right through he and Kakarot.

"Big deal." Raditz shrugged, dropping back into a combat stance. "Is this supposed to distract me? To make me cry? Affect me in battle?"

Tertius looked embarrassed, as though Raditz had seen right through his not-so-cunning strategy.

"You're pathetic," Raditz continued, "you really think I care about all this? It's all in the past now."

"But is it Raditz? Deep down I know you're still just that psychotic, bloodthirsty saiyan who was more than willing to kill his own brother?"

"I'm not that way anymore." Raditz's voice showed no hint of wavering, truly confident in his abilities the saiyan strode forwards, "And I'm about to prove that by beating you!"

This time it was Raditz who struck first, charging out and landing a savage rib shattering kick to Tertius's side before he managed to slip back into his warp speed zipping motion. He knew from the second he landed that the kick must've hurt the Vicis, as was apparent by Tertius's now hesitant approach. The fly-like afterimage zipped around above Raditz apprehensively, looking for openings in the saiyan's defence. Tertius suddenly disappeared, and before Raditz could turn around fully he felt himself taken right off his feet, as the Vicis had cunningly grabbed him and threw him headlong into a nearby hill. He was too fast; try as he might Raditz just couldn't keep up with the speed of his enemy's attacks, he needed to be faster, more agile, have quicker reflexes.

Tertius landed, waiting patiently for Raditz to pull himself together and get up out of the small crater he'd formed. Impatiently, the saiyan took off the heavy battle boots he wore and dropped two small weighted fibres to the ground. Like Picollo he'd learned to use heavier clothing to be able to suppress his full power in battle, to turn the tables on his opponent when the time came. He immediately felt more limber, and his muscles loosened as he stretched casually, with them stiffening under the pressure of his heavy garments.

"My my," Tertius laughed, "You truly are a student of Picollo's."

"You'd better believe it."

Tertius's solid body suddenly sped up to again as he zoomed side to side advancing the saiyan, moving almost as a cloud, a nonsolid mist of gas. Raditz braced himself, and timed a punch, though suddenly Tertius's blisteringly fast form disappeared and landed a strike right to his kidney. Raditz exhaled, clutching his side with a free hand in pain, trying to stop himself from doubling over. The most intense pain racked his side, agony so horrible that it hurt him to move or even breathe. He shoved the pain aside, grimacing, and dropped back into a combat stance, waiting for Tertius to strike again.

He glimpsed the huge plasma screens invading the space to the west, and for a moment his heart leapt as he saw something horrifying; the decapitation of his mentor. For brief seconds his ki aura flared out in wild anger, and he could see Trunks was doing the same, in fact it appeared that Trunks was transforming. Then Raditz remembered, and scalding himself for forgetting, the wise saiyan calmed himself and chuckled at his own previous worry. _'I can regenerate as long as my head is still intact.' _Picollo's words sounded in his ears. Well the namek's head was still intact, and Secundus was about to get a big surprise.

"Aha ha ha!" Tertius laughed, his broad guffaw echoing around the landscape, "Wow, even the great Picollo has fallen now! And it seems little Trunks has advanced to Super Saiyan 3! Too bad Secundus will show up and finish him off the moment Primus is defeated!"

"Oh no." Raditz said stiffly in a sarcastic monotone, "Picollo is gone, whatever am I going to do?"

Tertius cast him a confused glance, noting a flash of a grin make its way across Raditz's lips, to him this could mean only one thing. "Aha! So you _do_ care nothing for them! You, the noble saiyan Raditz are merely using them as pawns to increase your strength! You never cared about Picollo! You never cared about anyone! The only thing that really matters to you, Raditz, is fulfilling your own selfi-"

"Ahem!" Raditz interrupted, pointing now rather irritably to the far left screen. Trunks was on his knees, and no sooner had Secundus appeared had a signature Special Beam Cannon tore right through his abdomen, impaling his heart, killing him instantly.

Tertius looked horrified; the death of his comrades was not what bothered him, he couldn't give a damn about them, but the fact that both Picollo _and _Trunks had managed to thwart their adversaries made him worried. And to make things worse, he had the sneaking suspicion that Raditz had been hiding something, his big boost couldn't really have been removing a few petty weights.

"I really must thank you, Tertius." The saiyan began, calmly brushing off more dirt from his black and red combat suit, "Truly, it's been an honour fighting you. Against that fool Nappa I couldn't even experiment with my full strength without seriously hurting anyone."

"Your full strength?" Tertius's voice was brave, though it was easy to see through the facade; his tone quivered, his lips trembled.

"You see, as you may have surmised from the emblems on my uniform." Raditz gestured to the small symbol on the front of his gi and then to the huge one on his back. "I was not only trained under Picollo, but also, for a time, the great King Kai. From Picollo, as he'd spent much time around users of the technique, he managed to teach me to utilise the Super Saiyan 3. And from King Kai, well. . ."

Tertius had heard enough, not wanting the implications to be true he dropped back into his speeding bullet form and homed like a missile straight for his enemy. Raditz smiled.

"Super Kaio-ken!!!"

Raditz was suddenly enveloped in a beautiful golden and crimson aura that flared out beside him, and Tertius felt the massive uproar of power emanating from him. Raditz flew at inhuman speeds and intercepted Tertius's dive, slamming a fist into his jaw so hard that when the Vicis hit the floor, he didn't crater down into it, he bounced painfully right off the surface and sailed, dazed back into the air.

The intense velocity of Raditz's attack had smashed Tertius like a solid brick. From that one move he'd almost knocked the Vicis out cold, and he now clung on to consciousness for dear life, knowing that if he was knocked out it would be the end. He shook his head, and immediately found Raditz hovering right next to him. He threw a punch, but the saiyan dodged it, appearing behind him in a shocking burst of speed far greater to even his own.

"It's called the Super Kaio-ken, and King Kai developed it especially for his new pupils, though he'd yet to find someone who could fully master it. . . Until he met me."

Tertius listened, wide eyed and fearful, trying desperately to see some kind of flaw in the technique.

"If you've seen any of Goku's early matches you'll be familiar with the original Kaio-ken, well this is a more advanced form one can use while in Super Saiyan. It basically buffs up my speed, senses and power so a higher level. When I first used it, I'd just about attained Super Saiyan 2, but with the Super Kaio-ken, I had the same power as someone who'd been using it for years. When I finally _did _master Super Saiyan 2, I had a power close to a Super Saiyan 3, and when I acquired Super Saiyan 3, I could have a power like someone who'd mastered it fully. And now that I _have _mastered the Super Saiyan 3 form, well," Raditz flashed a confident smile, "You don't stand a chance."

An enraged Tertius threw a wild looping left hook back at Raditz, who ducked under it, and with a burst of red aura slammed his fist right into Tertius's stomach. It was all a blur after that, Tertius was thrown around and punched apart like a ragdoll before he could even recover, and the times he managed to get to his feet and throw a punch were swiftly countered by the awesome power of the Super Kaio-ken. He was out of his league, back broken, shoulder crushed and eye pulped when he was finally thrown into the ground and looked up into the sights of Raditz's signature attack being charged from high above. He tried to move, tried to get out of the way, but not even an inch could be lifted as Raditz called out the final blow.

"Double Sunday!!!"

* * *

_Me again, keep reading I posted 2 chapters because I'm generous ^-^ On a side note I know that the Super Kaio-Ken is a filler technique, but the fact that it's filler still makes it a hundred times more cannon than any technique I could just make up. The reason I didn't use the original Kaio-Ken is because as the series continues the multiplications of it get higher and higher. I really didn't want Raditz to start calling out 'Kaio-Ken times a billion!!!!" so I just resetted it and added a super to it=D_


	9. Chapter 9 Hail to the King

Chapter 9: Hail to the King

Vegeta had barely took off again before an intense fist drove its way into his jaw, swiftly followed by a kick to his back before Quintus raised both hands above his arms and hammered down his flailing body with his two fists clasped into one. The prince hit the ground hard, managing to stay on his knees by just a finger's effort. He and Quintus had ascended to their maximums after a stalemate, but now Vegeta was being tossed around like a doll. He stood little chance; in fact not a punch had landed on his adversary, he was just too fast, too strong. Quintus didn't even let the saiyan get up; still on his knees, Vegeta felt a breathtaking knee slam down into his spine to flatten him to the floor. Painfully, he rolled over to his back as Quintus hovered above.

"Come on Vegeta! What game are you playing? You should be doing far better than this!" Quintus called to the beaten warrior.

Vegeta stood up shakily, sweeping the thick lock of super saiyan 3 hair away from his forehead. He'd never been quite so outclassed in his life, but fortunately for him, he had an ace up his sleeve. He was reluctant to use it at first, but if this battle continued for five more minutes he'd be dead without it. He just silently prayed it was enough.

The prince glanced down to his left wrist, noting the gravity enhancer, still set to three hundred G's in an attempt to give himself a disadvantage. He raised it to his chest and used his right index to tap it right down to zero. He felt his power increase and his mass go down with the relief of the stress his body was under.

Part of the reason for his loss until now had also been the distraction of the screens to his left showing the battles fought with his friends. He noted that Tertius, number three, was on par with a full power super saiyan 3, the level he was at now. If that was the case, then how much more powerful was number five.

Vegeta took off once again, making for his opponent with renewed strength. Quintus, still misjudging his power, had expected him to be much slower, and didn't quite get out of the way in time. Vegeta's rising uppercut knocked him higher into the sky, and with not a second to lose Vegeta seized the chance, and soared after his opponent. He met Tertius's drift with a powerful right hook, and pursued him further to land a looping kick, but the third time he chased Quintus was his last. Vegeta warped to a spot just fifty paces ahead of the Vicis and spread out his palms into a ki blast. A hot yellow blast erupted, but by then Quintus was fully conscious again. He twisted out of the way and altered his flightpath so that he approached Vegeta from the left side, right into a punch to the saiyan's stomach.

The saiyan prince felt the fist go right up into his stomach and knock every single cell of air from his lungs, in fact he was surprised Quintus's very arm didn't impale right through him from the sheer magnitude of the punch. He'd seen it this time, but for all his speed had been too slow to move. Quintus was faster, more powerful and more deadly than even a fully concentrated super saiyan 3 by far, and so the saiyan realised slowly that he was outclassed. He didn't have the required power available at his leisurely disposal: Perhaps super saiyan 4 would do it, but he dared not take the risk after last time.

"You see Vegeta, this is fruitless. You are far out of your league here: Of the four of you only Raditz and yourself have the strength left to fight, and both are fighting a losing battle."

Vegeta glanced behind him to learn that Quintus was right. Picollo was having his head dragged through rocks, Raditz was having difficulty keeping up with a raging bullet and his own son was on the floor being beaten to a pulp by Primus.

"You must realise that you stand no chance of survival in your current form, why don't you transform to see if you can even the playing field?"

The prince's eyes suddenly widened: Quintus knew about his difficulties transforming and so was trying to gaud him into attempting it. He knew that without a little more time to train it would only induce the golden ape form again; a powerful, yet clumsy and raging beast that would be just as likely to kill itself as it would Quintus. "I don't even need to transform to beat scum like you Quintus!" Vegeta retorted, "It would be a waste of my time."

The Vicis suddenly scowled, and within a moment he was upon Vegeta. The prince parried away a blow with his right hand, only to feel another fist swoop in and catch him on the temple. He swayed, losing his balance and Quintus twisted his body right around and fired a huge kick into the saiyan's chest to send him into the cliff face below. He then charged up masses of energy, and fired an enormous ki blast into the crater he'd formed, satisfied that his work was done.

The Vicis lowered slowly to the ground and turned his back, beginning to stalk off into the distance, until.

"W-Where do you think you're going?" The horse voice of Vegeta seemed to growl, as his short, stocky figure painfully marched its way out of the smoke. "We're just getting started."

Quintus smiled. "Very good Vegeta; it seems you've got more spirit than I gave you credit for. But you're in no condition to fight me."

It was true; Vegeta's body was bloodied and broken in several places from the beating and the energy he'd eaten up trying to resist it. He was in no condition to fight even the first, let alone the number five in the group. He'd slipped out of super saiyan completely, as his black hair dripped with crimson blood.

"You should've stayed down." Quintus remarked, extending his arm so that he pointed at the prince. Vegeta felt a huge uptake of energy surrounding the Vicis's palm, and was determined to not let it end just yet. With a huge heave of his remaining power he dashed out of the way just in time, and landed a punch to Quintus's fact that caused him to stagger back just a little. He ordered his body to follow Quintus's stumble and resume the onslaught, but it would not obey, and so he stood panting like a rabid dog.

"You just don't die do you Vegeta? Well there must be _something _keeping you going; I guess we'll have to find something to deter you."

The scene around the suddenly changed, a process identical to the shift present in the Room of Spirit and Time, and the sprawling mountainside warped into a bustling metropolis. Skyscrapers formed up beside them, and flying cars and space pods zoomed on by. They'd been here before, he and Trunks, but it had been cruelly taken from him, it was the planet Vegeta, his home that had been destroyed many years ago. Saiyagol's majesty stood tall and grand, as imposing as the day it was destroyed. Quintus had taken them back, to a place where he believed Vegeta would be weakened; haunted by the fact that he'd been too powerless to save his kin when Freeza laid waste to the defenceless planet. In reality though, it only strengthened the saiyan prince.

He and Quintus were hovering, elevated two hundred feet up at the heart of the city. Skyscrapers rose up on all sides, and below saiyans of all classes in full armour looked up to witness what was to come.

"How does it feel Vegeta?" Quintus asked, "Knowing that you were too weak to save them?"

But Vegeta wasn't listening; he looked around, down below where his kind was watching in supporting marvel. With one look they could tell he was a saiyan, and the evil ki signature from the Vicis told him he was an enemy. For a few moments, Vegeta wondered whether he or his father was alive in this particular timeline, but it didn't matter either way. Quintus had summoned up the three plasma screens to fill each fill the side of a building, and then Vegeta saw it. His son had ascended; super saiyan 3 Trunks stood conversing with Picollo and Raditz. He'd never been more proud in his entire life, of his son, of his race. Time seemed to pass so slowly for the saiyan as he looked around in wonder and slow realisation.

"It shall make the perfect place to mark your grave!" Quintus roared, raising an open palm. An overpowering ki beam hummed to life.

Vegeta smiled and close his eyes. "Thank you."

Quintus shot him a look of confusion, but without questioning his words a second time, the Vicis roared in fury and launched the beam right towards him, and for a second it looked like it would hit. Until. . .

The prince let out a savage war cry that rocked the entire planet as a huge shockwave fled his body to crack and dismantle nearby buildings. His body was suddenly enveloped in a brilliant golden light. He was powering up, perhaps for the last time. He felt the primal side of the golden ape attempting to overpower him once again, but he pushed past it, determined to be in control. He had to do this, for his honour, for his son, for the entire saiyan race, even for Kakarot. Fangs extended, his body becoming enveloped in harsh golden fur, but his determination shone through. As he felt his bones expand he let out one final dragon's roar and pushed it back; it was plain sailing from there. His chest became covered in crimson fur, his power increased and eyes turned to a bright turquoise shade. His hair was black once more and hung behind him as well as drooping casually on either shoulder.

"Does _this _even the playing field Quintus?"

The golden light subsided, and finally Quintus could lower his hand from his blinded eyes. Super saiyan 4 Vegeta stood poised and ready for action; fully rejuvenated from the beating.

"So you've finally decided to transform eh? What took you so long?"

"I really didn't think I needed it until now: you've proven yourself to be quite the worthy adversary, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of your demise." said Vegeta. He'd never admit to Quintus that until now he didn't have a proper hold on it, rather, he'd maintain the illusion that he'd been in control all along.

Quintus made for Vegeta, but under his new power he seemed to have slowed down considerably to the saiyan prince. Vegeta matched him with a super charged punch to the face and pursued him down into the ground. Quintus hit the road, causing a whole manner of saiyans to flee the area. He got up, but Vegeta was upon him already. Quintus hit the floor painfully, and Vegeta waited for him to get up just to see the expression of shock and fear on his face.

"But how!?" Quintus wailed, "Our power levels are now evenly matched!"

It was true; in terms of raw power there was little difference between the two, but there was one flaw; something Vegeta had noticed earlier on in the battle.

"Do you really want to know?" Vegeta taunted, "Or shall I just put you out of your misery so you can die ignorant."

"Tell me! How come you bested me so easily!?"

"You see Quintus, while we may be matched statistically, _I _have been fighting on the battlefield my entire life, learning to trust my instincts and become absorbed in the fight. You on the other hand have only trained; you have never known true pain or fear, and you have not learned to act upon impulse." Vegeta suddenly smirked, adding, "And it shows."

After a lightning fast exchange Vegeta was the first to land a punch. He ducked right under Quintus's kick and spun up into an uppercut to rocket Quintus right up into a nearby building.

Vegeta followed, flying straight up a hundred storeys to the office of a nearby skyscraper. Male and Female saiyans fled the scene, screaming in fear of the awesome power that shook the planet like a hurricane. Quintus was waiting. Try as he might Vegeta couldn't avoid the move; as he came level with the right altitude he glanced into office to see Quintus charging an attack right stood right at the centre. He tried to swerve, but the ki beam hit him right in his furry chest and sent him straight into the mirroring skyscraper, where people started fleeing all around him.

He shook his head, still groggy for the attack, and got up waiting for another. None came, at least not right away, which told the old fighter one thing. Quintus was weakened. After punching him up into the ground, and then into a building the ki beam Quintus had unleashed had taken more out of the Vicis than he'd cared to let on. Vegeta walked over to the window he'd shattered and gazed over at Quintus's building across an aerial street littered with flying cars and people. As soon as he saw a gap in traffic, Quintus launched himself across the gap, but Vegeta was ready again. He hopped slightly from one leg and scizzored the other into an enormous kick that connected perfectly with Quintus's chin and sent him into the sky. Without thinking twice Vegeta pursued, but the Vicis had remained conscious and took the only safe option, to flee like a coward.

Vegeta zipped after his adversary through the streets of Saiyagol at incredible speed. Both took to the skies and Quintus smashed through a multitude of flying cars to try and escape, whereas the prince only swerved around them with ascended agility in hot pursuit of his foe. Vegeta was far quicker, but because they were innocent, and his own kind, he couldn't bring himself to collide with any of the hovering vessels as Quintus did, and so having to avoid them took more time. The Vicis was destroying the saiyans a family at a time, and that made Vegeta very, _very _angry.

Quintus eventually zoomed into a low, dark tunnel, and Vegeta seized his chance. Even though he hadn't been here for fifty years, he'd known these streets better than any as a child in his day. He swept his body left to avoid entering the tunnel, carrying on at high speeds against the traffic, heading west. He reached the tunnel's end, but something was wrong. As his own kind, many saiyans watched him from high and low and some gathered around in support. The cars still zoomed around without a care in the world.

"Argh! Everybody move! Run!!!" he called out in frustration, but they only stared at him dumbly in response.

"Is that you King Vegeta?" asked a burly saiyan in full armour.

For a moment Vegeta was shocked; he thought they'd mistaken him for his father, but after brief consideration he remembered that for years his ancestry had retained the same name, so he could've been in any timeline.

He was about to refute this question when an idea hit him. He remembered the pride of saiyans, how they would only ever take orders from their king. Even if they were from Freeza himself, they had to be ordered through the king for them to obey. Quintus's power level drew closer to the end of the tunnel, so Vegeta resorted to drastic measures.

"Yes! It's me you idiot, King Vegeta! I have the power to destroy him now, but you must hurry and get out of here because I won't be able to contain the blast!"

"Yes sir!" The man turned to his saiyan compatriots, "Alright you heard the king! Let's go!"

The saiyans fled along with the platter of flying cars as Vegeta powered up a finishing ki blast. Quintus's ki signal was nearing, Vegeta could feel him zipping around the last few corners until he could he was on the final straight, he could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, which would be the last light he would ever see. He felt the budding power of a killing blast at the mouth of the tunnel, but already he was going too fast, he tried to turn around, but just ended up halting right at the tunnel's entrance, coming face to face with his saiyan foe.

"FINAL FLASH!!!"

* * *

_Yayyy go Vegeta; gotta love him. Anyway the reason I posted 2 up is because I realised halfway through that doing 4 fight scenes in a row was a stupid idea. Didn't wanna keep anyone in suspense for just another brawl. It's alright I don't make the same mistake twice, gotta break it up a little in future. Anyway hope you enjoyed =D_


	10. Chapter 10 Escape!

Chapter 10: Escape!

Quintus's shriek howled through the city of Saiyagol, but Vegeta didn't hear it out to the end. As he disintegrated under the titanic explosion of Vegeta's Final Flash the entire planet Vegeta seemed to disintegrate before the prince's eyes. Now that his enemy had been defeated, he was leaving again, but it was okay. He was at peace with it this time; he'd been powerful enough to save them from another foe and proved to himself just what he could accomplish. This had been the third time he'd reached super saiyan 4, and as he stood there confidently in his newfound power he knew he now had the transformation well under control. He could access it at any time, but experience had told him not to get cocky. Quintus was only number five, and the Vices went all the way up to twelve, perhaps thirteen if there was one grand overseer, so he'd just have to get stronger yet. More than anything, they'd need Goku if they were to see this thing to the end.

Saiyagol stripped away particle by particle to morph into the unwelcoming desolate canyon that they'd arrived in before. The room hovered behind him and the enormous spire loomed overhead a number of miles into the distance. Raditz, Picollo and Trunks (still powered up into a super saiyan 3) stood waiting, though they looked dazed and confused, as if they'd only just been transported back too.

"Trunks, you've ascended." Vegeta noted. A vague smile came to his face as he failed to completely conceal the pride that overwhelmed him.

"Yeah! Isn't it great!?" said Trunks, "And it's all thanks to your training! Well, that and witnessing Picollo have his head cut off."

"You forgot that Picollo regenerates? That's like the first thing you learn about him!" Raditz exclaimed in disbelief.

"Well I guess I wasn't thinking straight while having my face pounded into a grapefruit."

"Wait, super saiyan 3 doesn't require any extreme emotion to access, am I right Raditz?" said the namek. He was right; all super saiyan 3s had attained the transformation through hard work and training alone.

"Yeah you're right," recalled Raditz, "you did it all on your own Trunks, guess you just needed a little push."

"Yeah. . ."

"Come on, we should get back to the room, it could move at any time." cautioned Picollo, and instantly all four stepped onto the platform of the Room of Spirit and Time to discuss the events.

* * * * *

Picollo spoke theoretically as the sands of the remaining hourglass slowly drifted to the bottom, they had around ten minutes maximum, and it couldn't have passed any slower under the shadow of that evil spire. "These Vices, they seem to be able to move between dimensions by harnessing the power of our room."

"What kind of dimensions?" offered Raditz; the remaining three listened in with varying degrees of interest.

"Any; it can be dimensions like earth, heaven and hell, dimensions in space like transporting us to different planets, and as Vegeta witnessed: time."

"So where does Kakarot fall into all of this?" Raditz continued.

Vegeta noted that like himself, Raditz couldn't refrain from calling his brother by his saiyan name.

"I'm not sure, Secundus said that his master wanted to challenge him for being renowned as the most powerful, but they can't seem to locate him."

"Why not?"

"I think that when he went away with Shenron, Goku crossed into another dimension, one that must be shielded from the eyes of the Vices, and they think we know where he is."

"I wish we did." Trunks interjected, brandishing his sword in vigour, "We could sure use his help right now."

"We could, but he's not here." coldly stated Raditz. "We don't even know if he's alive, or if he's ever coming back. So we need figure out a way to get through this on our own; we can't depend on Kakarot to solve all our problems for us! I must admit these new fighters intrigue me, their strength is unlike anything we've ever encountered," Picollo and Trunks cast him a careful glance, as if they suspected he might do something stupid, so taking note of this, he continued, "and we could use Kakarot's strength, but we need to think about right now and not wait for a miracle that probably won't even show, how would he even go about finding us in here?"

"I hate to admit it, but Raditz has a point, this place seems impossible for even Goku to find." Picollo agreed, "How long left on that hourglass?"

"Seven minutes, maybe eight." said Trunks.

"Good, the sooner we're taken away from this place the better."

Vegeta snorted. "Scared namek? I say let them come." He folded his arms and thrust out his chest, just itching to get another chance to try out his new transformation against a formidable foe. He'd grown out of rushing blindly at the nearest foe; had it been twenty years ago he might've zoomed straight for the tower just to see how strong he'd become. He wouldn't, but even now his saiyan blood didn't stop him from feeling the temptation.

"Vegeta don't be too confident," warned Picollo, "you need to rest, and if I calculated the strength between the Vicis right then the sixth would destroy a newly transformed super saiyan 4."

"I think you underestimate my strength."

"Maybe, but this isn't the time for trying it out, it's been a long day."

The prince considered retorting further to Picollo, but after a moment's reflection he realised that the namek was probably right. Now that the adrenaline had worn off he realised his own fatigue; destroying Quintus had took almost everything out of him, and he'd need even more if a Vicis of higher rank came along.

"Uh, guys!" called Trunks, glancing nervously from the edge of the room, "I think we should try and get moving!"

"What is it?" Vegeta turned back and headed down the arched veranda with Picollo in step to see Trunks and Raditz gazing out across the rocky plateau. Five figures were running at a brisk pace away from the spire and right towards them, and from them emanated huge power levels, some of which dwarfed his own by comparison. Only one was weaker than Quintus, who he surmised must've been number four, but the others were all far more powerful.

"Does anyone have any strength left to fight?" Picollo asked. After his regeneration he had very little strength left, and both the kaio-ken and a first time super saiyan 3 transformation were incredibly stressful on the body. Vegeta, who was still exhausted, was probably the most fit to fight, but even he knew he couldn't take on even one of these new foes.

"How long left in the hourglass?" Barked Picollo suddenly.

"About four minutes!" yelled Raditz.

_Damn it, _thought Vegeta, _they'll reach us in less than three_. He sensed Picollo knew this too, as well as the approaching Vices, but what could they do? The five fighters in the distance broke out into flight and headed towards them a little faster.

Raditz eyed the hourglass, painfully slowly seeping into the lower vial like a tap that had not quite been turned off properly, if only there were some way to speed it up. Instinctively, Raditz leapt up on top of the glass and looked down at the others, who eyed him with confusion before he started jumping up and down on its surface as an infant having a tantrum would. Sure enough, with every rhythmic beat of Raditz's weight hopping up and down more sand tumbled into the lower vial.

"Trunks get up here with me! You two shake it!"

As ordered, Trunks jumped up beside Raditz atop the mystical hourglass, and Vegeta and Picollo rocked it side to side from below.

"This has to be the stupidest thing I've ever done!" cursed Vegeta. Bulma would've been rather amused if she saw her beloved prince shaking a seven foot tall hourglass like a captive gorilla would grapple with the bars of his cage.

"Keep going, it's working!!!" Raditz yelled out.

Vegeta only rolled his eyes in response as shook the hourglass side to side even harder; he wondered what was more embarrassing, this or the fusion dance.

Trunks kept a wary eye on the approaching fighters while hopping up and down; they drew nearer and nearer and something told him that they'd figured out their plan. They'd sped up from the last time he looked, but that was okay, their time was almost up, the upper chamber of the hourglass was almost empty.

The Vices accelerated further, and the Z-fighters rocked the vial harder.

"Almost there!"

"They're coming!"

Raditz turned to see the distinct faces of the Vices less than a hundred metres away, but with a yelp of excitement he jumped higher up and slammed down his boots powerfully on the flat surface of the vial. He felt it crumble and crack slightly, but luckily for them it did not shatter. Instead the final grains of sand were forced down into the lower chamber of the hourglass and from their viewpoint the bleak wasteland morphed into a flash of brilliant white light as the Room of Spirit and Time vanished into thin air.

The Vices flew straight into empty space; less than a second ago they had seen the fools that had destroyed their companions and were closing in to finish them in one fell swoop, now they had gone.

Duodecimus hovered some ten feet off the ground and snarled angrily. His powerful chest showed off a twelve o'clock signal, indicating that save for his master, he was the most powerful of all the Vices. "They got away." he stated coolly. "How long before we can re-establish contact with them?"

"I'm not sure sir; the anomaly created from their detaching from earth gave off a powerful signal that we could home in on, now they're just floating around in space and time." said Quatrus, the number four.

"So you're saying we can't find them again!?" Duodecimus bellowed.

"N-No sir that's not what I meant-" Quatrus shuddered, certainly not wanting to face the wrath of Duodecimus or his master. "Eventually, when they pop up somewhere we're watching we'll be able to track them."

"Good, how long till they do?"

Quatrus gulped. "The room is unpredictable; it could be tomorrow, could be years."

Duodecimus nodded, and for a moment Quatrus thought he was about to lash out, but he didn't. "Then we wait; in the meantime prepare yourselves, something tells me that Primus, Secundus, Tertius and Quintus underestimated these saiyans. I should've expected more from them, especially from Quintus, so make sure none of you disappoint me for when your time comes to face them."

"Yes sir!" went a chorus of Vices.

* * * * *

The Z-fighters drifted through space and time in the room for another period. How long exactly none of them knew, but after a few days much had become certain. First of all it had become clear to Trunks and Vegeta that Raditz was indeed their ally and had conformed to their side; the way he handled himself in the battle against Tertius told Vegeta that Raditz would have a bigger part to play in the battle against this new foe. Would it be enough though? Eight Vices remained, as well as their all powerful master, could three saiyans and a namekian really stand up to that many enemies?

The void in the room once again shifted with every depletion of the one remaining hourglass, sometimes it would last seconds, sometimes they'd be many hours in a new area, and often the void would resort to its usual bleach white, spacious self so that the fighters could train. Vegeta taught Trunks to master the super saiyan 3 and forced himself to master the 4th level. Picollo remained his usual quiet self and trained with Raditz, but the two factions often sparred together for competition. Vegeta was the strongest, which worked wonders for his ego, followed by Raditz who, coupled with super saiyan 3 and the super kaio-ken was close to a super saiyan 4 in strength. Trunks followed, having overtaken Picollo thanks to his latest transformation, but that didn't deter the namek from training. The room floated around through time for another three months, Picollo didn't eat so that was useful, but Raditz was a saiyan, so his appetite was just as big as the others. They'd packed food for two people for a whole year, and so far Trunks and Vegeta had been in for six months in total. With three of them eating, they doubted whether it would last another four.

Their strict training process was constant throughout the three months, and surprisingly Raditz and Trunks made good friends. With the cold seriousness of the other two it comforted them to be able to talk and have fun with each other. You'd think that being dead for over forty years would mean Raditz would be as pissed as anyone, but it was completely the contrary, it seemed as though the time in hell had softened up Raditz rather than hardened him.

Vegeta was out on the void practicing his blasts into the light; the downtime between shifts meant that his training ground was back up, which he didn't waste a moment of, but he had agreed to not stray too far from the room in case he lost track of time and missed the room's warp. Picollo sat just off the ledge meditating in deep thought, training his mind for what was to come, whereas Trunks and Raditz sat at the table drinking water after a hard day's training, chatting merrily in the absence of their mentors.

Trunks spared a sideways glance to the cracked hourglass, which was dangerously close to finishing, less than a minute remained. "Vegeta! Picollo!" He called over, "Come on! It's moving!"

"Already?" Demanded the prince, finishing off a big bang attack and launching into the distance.

"It's not a train Vegeta, it doesn't run on a schedule." reminded Raditz with a cocky smile.

Rolling his eyes, Vegeta soared back into the room. His arms were folded, and his face warped into one of displeasure. Raditz managed to conceal a laugh.

As Picollo got back up and stepped back on to the veranda the void began to warp again. The room span with dizzying speed, but the group had gotten so used to it now that it no longer felt strange. It even happened at their 'night' to wake them all up at ridiculous hours after little sleep. Voices from their past filled the chambers, coming from all different directions, which was normal in the Room of Spirit and Time, but this time something was amiss. There were usually tens or even hundreds of voices cutting across each other like the mindless rabble of a comedy audience, but this time there were only two voices, and they were distinct and timed, like they were having a conversation.

Suddenly, something appeared in the void, drawing closer as the room spun. It was hard to make out under the mayhem of a shift, but this had never happened before. Normally the scenery would load up like a computer screen would, but this time only one object appeared, far away in the void.

"What is that?" Raditz asked, hoping that his teammates would have an answer, they didn't.

As it drew nearer, the two voices grew louder around them. They were definitely in conversation.

"Is that a room?" one said.

"Could be, keep your guard up we don't know who could be there." the other replied, this one older and wiser.

They recognised the voices as clear as day, but what worried them what was getting closer. It _was _another Room of Spirit and Time, and the voices did indeed seem to be coming from it. Eventually the two met, and they mechanically pulled up side by side each other to create one larger room. The group dropped into a fighting stance and faced the identical room that had latched onto their left side. It seemed deserted until two figures rushed out onto the veranda, but their features were distorted, as the harsh light of the void poured out into the eyes of the Z-Fighters to blind them.

"Trunks!?" cried a familiar voice.

The light subsided, and the lavender haired hybrid opened his eyes. Stood in the opposing room were Goten and Gohan, mouths gaped open in obvious surprise.

* * *

_It might be a little late but here's my christmas gift :D Oh yeah and I was asked the other day how long I'd make this thing, a friend of mine wanted to know. Well I don't have an exact figure but I think it'll be between 25-30 chapters. I want something that's long enough and not ridiculously ambitious; something I know I can finish._


	11. Chapter 11 Join the Crew

Chapter 11: Join the Crew

"Goten! Gohan? Is that really you?"

"Stay back Goten," cautioned Gohan suddenly, eyeing the opposing party with a look of distrust, "they're probably not from our time period; remember, Trunks is gone."

"Wha-? I'm right here! I've not gone anywhere!" Trunks protested, "I-!"

Piccolo intervened, "Gohan, how long has it been on the outside since Vegeta and Trunks entered the Room of Spirit and Time?"

Gohan sighed and looked to his younger brother, who seemed to be as confused as he was. He remembered Trunks and Vegeta entering the room and never coming back out. If Piccolo and the others acknowledged this then it had happened to them too. Could they really be here? Still alive? "It's been a year." he answered finally, "Are you telling me it's been shorter in here?"

"Yes!" cried Trunks, "We've been in the room for six months! That should be half a day!"

"I think I know what's happened."

"Huh?" came a chorus of confused saiyans. They turned to Piccolo.

"Since we've been dislodged from space, our timing on the outside has been destroyed too. It might've been six months for us in here, but outside it's been a whole year."

"That's right!" said Goten, "We figured a year on the outside would be three hundred and sixty five years in the room! The room sealed itself shut, even Gohan couldn't open it!"

"So after a few months we just stopped trying," Gohan continued, "Even if you didn't starve to death you'd have died of old age by then anyway. Bulma was. . . Devastated."

"I can imagine." Trunks suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for the pain he'd caused his mother, and couldn't wait to see her face when they made it out of here. _If _they made it out of here.

"So what are you two doing here then?" Raditz finally spoke up, stepping out from behind Piccolo to address his nephews. Goten didn't recognise him at all.

"What is _he _doing here?" demanded Gohan, dropping into his fighting stance.

"It's alright Gohan, he's with me." said the namek.

"Well I don't trust him."

"And he's been my student for the last year, he's Goku's brother, he's lived with us over the few months and he's helped us in battle more than once so far, so I think he's worthy of our trust, don't you?"

For a second it seemed Gohan was about to retaliate, but he simply sighed again and lowered his guard. He trusted Piccolo more than anyone, and if anything the green man was a better judge of character than he. "After we gave up waiting for you to return, we asked Popo and Dende to build us another room; we still had to train, and couldn't let what happened to you deter us. So we entered: four months in Goten leans back and puts a little too much weight on that hourglass back there."

"Are you kidding me!?"

"Hey hey hey! Calm down Piccolo I didn't know!"

A pitying, embarrassed sigh went around the entire room as if to say 'we're doomed' as Goten protested his innocence by flapping around his arms madly.

"Anyway the thing breaks, and suddenly the room starts changing, flying us to all sorts of different places. Five days later and here we are." Gohan concluded.

"You haven't run into any Vices yet have you?" Trunks checked.

"Any what?"

"You'll see."

* * * * *

After many explanations about the rooms, the Vices, and especially Raditz and Piccolo's mysterious appearance, the Z-fighters relaxed and instantly got reacquainted with one another. Gohan begrudgingly apologised to Raditz, and Goten and Trunks got to finally catch up after Goten had believed him dead for a full year. Spirits were high once again. The two rooms had now magnetised into one so that whenever the shifts happened they travelled as one, and the doorway to Goten and Gohan's room had predictably been sealed shut.

The days that passed by saw Vegeta in a more bitter mood than usual. He talked and ate less and less with every following day until Trunks and everyone else could see he had a problem. The fact that they were hopelessly screwed with little chance of survival and nine potential enemies still out there without Goku didn't seem to be it either, as he'd would never show fear for something like that. It wasn't even fear; more like misery, and every time someone asked him what it was he shrugged them off and resumed training. Gohan trained alone now that Goten had regained his ideal sparring partner, which revealed something else rather interesting.

"Tadaa." jested Goten in mock amazement as he completed his transformation.

"You can reach super saiyan 3!?" Trunks cried, shocked by the sudden revelation.

"Yep; think you and Raditz are the only ones huh?"

Trunks and Goten sparred for the longest time in their maximum forms, and it was through this that Trunks learned that Goten had almost caught up to him. With the year's difference in age Trunks had always just been that tiny bit stronger than his dear friend Goten, but on the outside, where more time had passed, Goten had aged more, and there was now only a difference of a few months between their ages. Gohan's training on the other hand mirrored that of Vegeta's. He'd fly off into the void or some unknown planet somewhere and train in complete solitude; it was strange, but when he they arrived Vegeta, Piccolo and Trunks recognised Goten's ki signal, but not Gohan's. Once his face was revealed it all became clear, but there was still something different about him, and Goten seemed to be in on it. Piccolo and Raditz practiced as usual. Gohan and Goten also wore the gravity enhancers developed by Mr. Popo and Dende, which came in handy when training to the point of dependence; especially for Vegeta, who'd set the gravity to 650 for his own training, a level that none other than Raditz could even stand up in.

Over dinner Trunks, Vegeta, Piccolo and Raditz would often ask about life on the real world, having not seen it in far too long. A whole year had passed without them, and so Goten revealed to Trunks that Bulma had retaken over Capsule Corp in his absence despite having retired years ago, making Trunks feel terribly cruel for leaving her behind. So on the third night Trunks revealed to Goten and Gohan what had happened in the room to absolve himself of all blame, about Vegeta transforming into the golden great ape form and destroying the hourglass.

It was in his cold, miserable thoughts that Vegeta plodded slowly through the abyss. He'd made sure he was in no fit state to fly back to the Room's entrance by draining all his energy in a solitary training session, and so he wandered back alone, savouring the mile long journey to consolidate his thoughts. When in a bleach white emptiness, any new stimuli would be registered fast, and it was because of this that Vegeta noticed from far away the exhausted form of Gohan returning from his own training session. No one was around for as far as the eye could see, and he'd have at least fifteen minutes before they reached the room again, so the prince bravely seized his chance.

"Gohan," he said, coming up behind Goku's son to catch him unawares.

Gohan turned to face Vegeta. He'd been so exhausted that he didn't even sense the intimidating ki signal of the saiyan until now. "Oh, hey Vegeta, what's up?"

"I've been meaning to ask you about something that's been bothering me," Vegeta said, rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh." Gohan looked confused, "Yeah I noticed you seemed a little bummed out lately, what's up?"

"This conversation will be strictly confidential; you will not tell anyone else of this matter." Vegeta continued.

"Um- sure, I won't tell anyone, so what is it?"

"Well-" he stammered, "It's about Bulma." Vegeta looked away, going slightly red before gritting his teeth and pursuing the matter further, "Is she. . . Uh-"

"Seeing anyone else?" Gohan finished Vegeta's sentence, causing him to look away in embarrassment.

"Y-Yeah. . ." he replied.

From out of nowhere Gohan exploded with incredible laughter, a kind he hadn't experienced in years. Vegeta went even redder for a few moments until Gohan continued laughing, falling on the floor in sheer enjoyment.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!!!" He yelled, "STOP LAUGHING!!!"

A mile away Piccolo's ears pricked up to the sound of what was unmistakeably the saiyan prince shouting in furious anger. He couldn't make out the exact words, but Vegeta was definitely enraged, so he rounded up the group.

"You guys! I think Vegeta's in trouble! Come on!"

"You think this is funny!? How would you feel if you knew your wife thought you dead for a whole year!!"

Gohan continued to laugh hysterically.

"Quit laughing and answer the damn question! I- I've killed men for lesser transgressions!" By now Vegeta had turned a crimson similar to that of Raditz's Super Kaio-ken.

"No! No of course not!" panted Gohan, speaking through fits of giggles, "I said she was devastated Vegeta, but she still never gave up hope on you two! You really think Bulma would get over her 'Very own saiyan prince' so easily?"

Despite being more humiliated than ever, Vegeta couldn't help but feel relieved; it was a weight off his chest, something he'd been meaning to ask Gohan since his arrival, but could never find him alone.

"So _that's _what you've been so upset about!? Ah ha ha ha!!!"

"Quiet!!"

"Hey!" came a gruff namekian tone. Piccolo's lean figure suddenly swooped down to meet the two arguing saiyans followed by Trunks, Raditz and Goten. "Is everything okay? We heard voices."

Gohan was about to reply when the light around them began to shift and grow steadily brighter. Before any knew it the void had lit up as usual with them still in it, and all they could do was shield their eyes from the shine as they felt as a queasy sensation in their guts. Finally, the light dimmed, and Vegeta and the others looked down to find themselves back in the Room, stood neatly on the veranda.

"I guess we now know what happens if we're still out training when it changes." mused Raditz.

"We've got bigger problems."

Out on the void the new landscape loaded up to reveal a stretch of fresh grassy plains, harbouring nothing but a lone man; A Vicis. His figure suggested a more brutal fighting style than the last opponent. A clean shaven head characterised his face, which was relatively plain except from a multitude of thin, wiry scars zigzagging their way up either cheek stemming from his chin. This one was clearly more powerful than the last, as proven by the clock face indicating seven o'clock upon his chest, but the scars also indicated that he had actually seen true battle before unlike their last batch of foes.

"_That_," announced Raditz, "Is a Vicis."

"Welcome." He said, speaking in a drawling, smoker's tone, "We finally managed to find you again. You see we've had our eye on the significant places you've visited in your lives; you really didn't think we'd notice if your little vessel made a pit stop at the Kai planet?"

_The Kai planet? _Figured Trunks, _I don't think we've stopped there yet_.

"The others are on their way here," revealed the Vicis, "but since I got here first, I get to pick first choice of who to fight." Number seven scanned his beady little eyes over the six warriors. "I pick. . ." He sized each up in turn, which went painfully slowly for the Z-Fighters, clenching their teeth and trying to look determined against a superior foe. "You." The Vicis pointed straight down at Gohan.

* * *

_Whew! Been a while, almost 2 months. Actually I'm really sorry for that, exams really suck :( BUT they're over now, and man does it feel good to be writing again. Haven't done anything in a while so I'll have to be excused if this isn't up to par, thanks again. :)_


	12. Chapter 12 Merger

Chapter 12: Merger

"I pick. . ." He sized each up in turn, which went painfully slowly for the Z-Fighters, clenching their teeth and trying to look determined against a superior foe. "You." The Vicis pointed straight down at Gohan.

"Me?"

"You are Goku's son are you not? He isn't here, so I think I'll settle for second best."

The Z-Fighters turned to Gohan, who stood as expressionless as could be until a smile came to his lips as he made up his mind. "I refuse."

A look of astonishment flew around the team and a flash of annoyance haunted the Vicis.

"You're just not worth my time; it'd be an unfair advantage." Gohan continued with a cocky wave of his hand, turning his back on the warrior.

The Vicis had been insulted beyond belief, though the other fighters only conveyed confusion. Even at his base form one could tell that this man was far more powerful than Quintus. Vegeta knew Gohan had increased in power, but how much power exactly? He trained alone so none other than Goten knew exactly which stage of the super saiyan he could reach, and this guy seemed to outclass even a super saiyan 4, though that didn't stop the Prince.

"As the most powerful fighter here, _I _will accept your challenge in Gohan's place." said Vegeta, stepping forwards to meet his new foe.

"Vegeta eh? I saw your fight against Quintus, and you are indeed powerful. . . But you are no match for me."

"My power has increased since that fight!"

"Indeed, but far from enough to defeat myself. Gohan on the other hand we have no data on, and his power eludes me. He too has increased since his time on earth, though I cannot yet gauge how much."

"Enough of this!" barked Vegeta. He marched towards the Vicis with a look of grim determination; his pride couldn't take being insulted for much longer. "Tell me your name," he said, "I want to know who I'm fighting, so that I can mark it on your grave!"

The Vicis smiled honestly and patted a hand bashfully onto his shaven head. "I'm Septimus," he said, "and I accept your challenge."

Vegeta smirked as he powered up into the first form of super saiyan, and by that time Septimus was already upon him. He caught the saiyan off guard by seizing his tail and began to swing the shorter man around over his head like a yoyo. Vegeta arched his hand and hailed a bolt of ki down to the fighter's face to ensure his release, but his recovery was quick indeed. From the dust of Vegeta's attack, Septimus rebounded before the saiyan landed with a powerful kick to his back. He soared high away from the crowd of spectators from the force of the attack, coughing up saliva with a hint of blood, though at least he as in the air now, where he'd have the advantage over that overgrown Vicis.

Once he passed the clouds Vegeta steadied himself and flared out his aura to halt. From below he could feel Septimus flying up to meet him, so he soared down as fast as he could to meet the fighter with a punch of his own. the two neared, and after reaching out with his senses Vegeta knew that Septimus's base power was higher than his own in the first stage of super saiyan, and so in a common display of quick thinking the prince ascended to the second right before their fists collided and poured all his super saiyan 2 power into his right hand.

"Woo! Way to go!" cooed the voices of Trunks, Raditz and Goten as Septimus crashed into a crater on the ground with Vegeta landing next to it, lips creased into a triumphant grin, blue jolts of bio-electricity dancing around him.

"He had to ascend to the second level to even handle this guy's most basic form." Picollo noted, just loud enough so that only Gohan could hear.

"I know; this doesn't look too good."

Septimus stood up, brushing off dust from his shoulder and tugging a shard of rubble from his bleeding hip. He made for the saiyan again, but Vegeta simply dived after him and hammered him further down into the crater before he even rose to full height.

"All right!" cried Goten, "Vegeta's really on his game!"

"Don't be a fool!" Picollo growled, causing the young saiyan to hop back in surprise, "Can't you see he's just sizing Vegeta up!? Septimus hasn't powered up yet, and Vegeta's had to go to almost half his maximum strength!"

Goten's eyes fell back to the ring, where the saiyan was glowering back at the Room. Apparently he'd heard them.

"Quiet namek! I don't need your help on this! I've got him right where I want h-"

Vegeta's irritated speech was cut off suddenly by the crater below erupting with raw power as the dials on Septimus's chest began to spin and distort with his power up. Initially frightful of the power, Vegeta managed to push it aside and ascend to the furry form of the super saiyan 4 just in time to survive the enormous uppercut that swooped up and out of the ground, catching him on the chin hard enough to send him flipping into the sky and out of control. After ten rotations, Vegeta managed to stop his uncontrollable spinning, and found himself looking down on an even more buffed up version of the sad foe he'd pummelled not two minutes ago. Septimus smiled up at him and dashed up to meet him.

_He's much bigger now_, assumed Vegeta, _so he'll pack more of a punch, though I doubt he'll be as fast. _Vegeta was wrong; he flew to the side to dodge his opponent's move and strike him with another, yet Septimus was so fast that when he missed Vegeta by mere inches he turned his body in impossible reflexes and elbowed the prince to the jaw before he had time to counter. Vegeta recovered, and flew back at the Vicis to blitz him with a flurry of lightning fast punches and kicks, which were met with even faster dodging before a boot to the head. Vegeta kept repeating this tactic, trying desperately to find some way to hit him, but Septimus just kept dodging and countering with a dizzying knockout punch every time he slowed.

A thick droplet of saiyan blood oozed from a blow on Vegeta's temple and dripped down onto his crimson fur, but this only enraged him further. He'd always fought through a mixture of cunning and reckless perseverance, so he'd have to keep going and pull something out fast or he'd be knocked unconscious within minutes. He charged ki into both palms and dove straight for Septimus as though he were about to repeat his plan of attack. The Vicis took the bait and braced himself to begin dodging strikes, but Vegeta stopped two metres away from him, and extended his hands out to show off the cackling orange energy he'd built up.

"Big Bang Attack!!!"

Vegeta's attack exploded away from him as his blast struck true, engulfing Septimus in what would surely be a damaging or even crippling blow, and then he waited. Five long, agonising seconds passed as he peered through the smoke to try and see his foe, but the dust cleared, and he could see nothing. Nervously he glanced around, but didn't have a chance to study the landscape, as Septimus's boot crashed down on his head, sending him back down into the floor, forming a crater right next to the one he pounded Septimus into. Groggy, dazed and confused, the prince rolled over, feeling mud caked over his face from landing face first in the earth. Septimus hovered a hundred feet above him, hands cackling with raw energy as he prepared for the finishing blow. He launched the beam, and Vegeta closed his eyes, unable to move more than an inch.

He heard the distinct whoosh of a ki beam rushing towards him at full power, but what he didn't expect was a higher pitched echo instead of an explosion that would've killed him. The contact never came, and he grew tired of waiting to be attacked, so he opened his eyes. Trunks and Goten stood either side of him; together they had deflected the attack fully powered up, and now Septimus's anger had transferred over to them.

"Goten, you ready?" said Trunks as he hopped out of the crater.

"Right!" Goten followed him out and leapt a perfect six paces to his left. They took their stance.

"FU!-" Trunks and Goten strafed crablike two paces towards each other, windmilling their arms from one side to the other.

"SION!-" They each raised a leg up to their chest, standing balanced in perfect symmetry as they prepared for the final move.

"HA!!" Both fighters extended their outer leg and twisted their hips as they thrust out their arms and connected fingertips perfectly, becoming engulfed in light in an instant.

A perfect form of the warrior Gotenks now stood confidently gazing up at his adversary. They'd performed the fusion flawlessly, resulting in an aggressive looking saiyan; a yellow and blue vest as well as a lighter blue waist sash protected little of his exposed chest and abdomen. His hair was styled upwards and black at the centre, with Trunks's signature lavender streaks at either side. This was the first time any had seen Gotenks as a fully grown man, and now that he'd completed his adolescence he looked meaner and more powerful than ever. _Then _he began to power up. Gotenks hummed into the first and second level with ease, and after a short two second burst of ki the third level overcame him. But he kept on climbing. The golden aura of the super saiyan flared out into a mist as he ascended higher, though rather than transform initially into a great golden beast, Gotenks was engulfed in the familiar white light, and when it subsided he stood among the most powerful as a super saiyan 4. Being a hybrid being, made up of two warriors, this bright blue-eyed saiyan was more powerful than either Vegeta or Goku, though there was one thing that still eluded the majority of the Z-Fighters, and Vegeta intended to address it as soon as he got to full strength again.

"Vegeta! Senzu bean!" cried Raditz, chucking the harmless looking vegetable into the crater where Vegeta lay beaten and exhausted. He dragged himself painfully over to it and popped the bean in his mouth; feeling completely replenished the moment he swallowed.

"Gotenks," he said, getting up slowly, "do you need any help?"

Gotenks turned slowly over to the man who was half his father, and then sized up Septimus with his senses before replying: "Nah, I got this one." he flashed a wry grin, "He's all mine."

"But remember; a fusion at super saiyan 4 doesn't last long. Kakarot and I got maybe twelve minutes before we spent up all our energy, so you'd better finish him quick, no screwing around."

He looked back to Septimus, now with a look of grim determination on his face. Gotenks had finally grown out of the cocky 'play with your opponent' tactic he once utilised, realising now that they'd only survive if he took this one seriously. He nodded defiantly, and set off into the sky.

Vegeta flew back to the Room. Had it been any other who'd saved him he'd feel ashamed and insist to carry on fighting. But it had been his own son, so what he really felt was pride; this was their time to shine, he'd have to take a step back.

"Glad you're okay Vegeta." said Gohan.

Vegeta said nothing in return, only watched as the two – or three fighters; however you saw it, partook in a huge exchange of punches flying from one end of the void to the other. "Picollo," he said finally, "I have a question about fusion."

"What is it?"

"How is it that when Kakarot and I fuse, we remain at the same stage, but when Goten and Trunks fuse, they can go even higher?"

"What do you mean?" Picollo said, not quite following.

"When Kakarot and myself do fusion, if we're both at the second level, we stay at the second level as a fused warrior, and against Shenron too, we were both at super saiyan four, and Gogeta was the same."

"I think I understand where you're going."

"But when Goten and Trunks fuse:" Vegeta continued, "against Buu they were both at the first level, and together they managed the third. And now they're both at the third but can reach the fourth as Gotenks."

"You're wondering why this doesn't happen to you and Goku." Picollo assumed.

"Any extra power we could use could tip this war in our favour." Vegeta said, excusing himself from making it sound as though he was just after the extra strength, but he was right at the end of the day; if this was number seven then the final one must've been infinitely powerful.

"It's actually quite simple," said Picollo, having an answer, "but there's no way for you and Goku to have the same effect, so you may as well let it go right now."

"But wh-"

"Trunks and Goten are the same age," Picollo answered Vegeta's question before he uttered two words, "they're also the same height and the same weight. Their power levels are constantly almost equally matched too. That, coupled with the friendship they've harboured their entire life makes them ideal fusion partners; they couldn't be more a match even if they were twins. You and Goku on the other hand: You're older, he's taller, weighs more, is usually a little more powerful, and you'll always be rivals no matter the cost."

Vegeta sighed dejectedly.

"But that doesn't mean you should stop fusing, Gogeta is powerful enough, Trunks and Goten just have that edge in the basic principles of fusion, I mean look at them."

Gotenks hammered a right straight at Septimus to break the lightning fast exchange as he ducked under a sloppy punch. The Vicis was tiring, he could see it everywhere. He'd grown slower thanks to him needlessly swinging around his huge bulk, and small beads of sweat leaked their way from his forehead. Gotenks was a quicker, more spry fighter, but that didn't mean we was lacking in strength. Septimus soared backwards from the force of the attack with a bloodied nose.

"Kaaa-"

Septimus worryingly stopped in his tracks and looked up to see a small blue ball forming in the palms of the fused fighter.

"Mehh!!"

The Vicis powered up just a little as the ball grew in size.

"Haaa"

The ball began to glow and spout out massive waves of light that bounced off in every direction.

"Mehh!!!"

_He's way too far away_, thought Septimus, _he'll never hit me at that range_.

"HAAA!!!"

Gotenks's kamehameha erupted from his palms and soared right for the Vicis, who struggled to dodge due to its enormous size. He twisted his entire body left, veering just in time to avoid being cooked. Septimus looked back up to Gotenks's position. He'd disappeared, and the Vicis noticed his attack coming down from above all too late.

"Splitting Headache!!!"

The hybrid's palm was raised high above his head and from it he unleashed a golden beam that flew up into the sky, did a full u-turn and came back down, forming a sharp blade in its final moments before pressing down on the Vicis's crown. He split into two perfect halves in a bloody shower that stained the earth below. Gotenks considered celebrating, just for a moment, though in his fighting experience he knew that not all was as it seemed. He still sensed a strong ki signal emanating from the two falling halves, and sure enough the two reconnected within moments.

"Regenerating, huh?" mused Gotenks aloud, "So that's _your _ability.

"Well, I _am _the lucky number seven." sniped Septimus, slapping his chest with a huff of laughter.

"Not today Septimus. You may have survived that one, but the energy you used to regenerate has severely weakened you. You won't be able to survive another attack, especially if I obliterate every cell in your body!"

Septimus snarled angrily, which did nothing other than confirm the fighter's suspicions. If he ran he'd be cut down while fleeing, so he could only stand and watch as Gotenks cupped his hands into a ball.

"KAA! ME! HAA! ME! H-"

Rather than the explosion of a powerful attack a weak, sonorous _pop _filled the battlefield. Septimus had flinched and closed his eyes like a frightened schoolgirl, sweating as though he'd battled his entire clan. When death did not come he dared to wink one open, realising with a relieved grin that the two fighters had separated. Their time was up; they'd spent up far too much energy. They stood there now, hovering across from him looking dumbly at one another.

"Again!" called out Trunks.

The saiyans dropped to the ground below in a flash and took their stance, wasting no time in moving and crying out "Fu!-Sion!-H-"

In his desperation Septimus suddenly blasted a ki beam to their meeting point. It exploded right as their fingers were about to touch and catapulted both saiyans to land away from one another, each one's side burned by his attack.

A grin turned to a chuckle, and the chuckle turned to unstable laughter as Septimus came to realise that he had won. He could easily keep the saiyans from fusing, and separated they were far from a match for him. To secure his comfort for sure however, he'd need to destroy one of them completely so that fusion was no longer a part of the fight. He did a midair somersault in glee before dipping into a nose dive to home for the nearest fallen saiyan, it was Trunks. As he dove down he ignited his right hand with ki, stretching it out in front of him, his aim fixed on the lavender haired main. He prepared to fire.

"Say goodnight!!!" he called out. Finally he was in range, just ten feet above Trunks and still descending he unleashed the beam, and felt it begin to leave his fingertips.

_BANG! _Another fist came out of nowhere to flip Septimus into a series of frenzied barrel rolls. His ki blast veered off at the last second from the force of the intercepting haymaker to dissipate harmlessly into the sky. Trunks opened his eyes and looked up. Vegeta had flown in at the last second and now hovered a metre or two over his son in super saiyan 4, his gaze looking up to the recovering Vicis, wiping the ooze away from his bloodied jaw.

"F-Father!" Trunks cried.

"There's no time!" interrupted Vegeta, "Hurry up and do your damn fusion thing, I'll keep him busy."

"But you can't be fully recovered!"

"I'm fine, now get up and go! I think Septimus here has forgotten one very important thing about the saiyans."

Trunks was about to ask what that thing was, but impatient as ever his father had raced up to meet his foe before the words left his mouth.

"Vegeta, Vegeta, Vegeta," taunted Septimus, playfully patting his shaven coconut-shaped head as the prince came up to meet him, "we've been over this, you're simply no match for me."

"That was then Septimus, and this is now."

"So you think you've grown strong enough to beat me in the space of five minutes eh?" The Vicis chuckled, "That's very foolish Vegeta I must say."

"We'll see."

"So we will." Septimus said, finishing his sentence with a flying lunge for the saiyan prince, fist first, propelled by a thousand mile per hour dash. Amazingly though, Vegeta matched his blow, holding out his right forearm so they clashed, rooted to the spot.

"Not bad Vegeta, but no good enough!" The Vicis flailed his free hand into a looping left hook, but Vegeta astonishingly ducked under it in a narrow escape, breaking the lock and delivering a swift jab to Septimus's kidney before retreating back a few metres to a safe distance.

"Argh!" huffed Septimus, bordering on rage, "how did you counter that? Not long ago that move would have put you down so what's changed?"

More than anything, Vegeta always enjoyed the ignorance of his opponents, it made him laugh with pride as he did now. "You forget Septimus, _I _am a pure blooded saiyan-"

"What does that have to do with anything!?"

"- And when a saiyan is defeated in battle, he grows stronger on recovery!"

After worrying himself over, Septimus slowly regained composure, he sensed Vegeta's wavering power signal, and the way he stood even indicated he was tired. "So you've increased in power? But you're still not as strong as me! You don't have nearly enough power to finish me off!"

"Maybe, but I can easily keep up with you."

Septimus snarled one more time and rushed Vegeta to force another exchange of punches. The saiyan matched him for every hit, dodging, ducking and weaving. Septimus had become blinded by his own rage, a rookie mistake that would cost the ultimate price as he threw a sloppy punch that wouldn't have hit the prince even if he didn't move. This was his chance. Sensing the air around him, Vegeta's right hand launched out like a coiled viper and grabbed Septimus's wrist with an iron clad grip. He then turned into the Vicis, now grabbing his arm with both hands and threw the enormous man over his shoulder as though he were weightless, straight into the flight path of another fighter, powering up a huge beam to end his life. He flew uncontrollably straight for Gotenks, and by the time he'd summoned up the energy to stop, the warrior was already crying out his attack.

"KAMEHAMEHA!!!"

* * *

_Again I hate to make excuses but much of this was written in the midst of revising for 3 exams, so if it's a little adequate I apoligise. Next chapters should be better written and more interesting, gonna focus on Gohan more for the next couple after he's been acting all secretive =D Everyone loves Gohan right?_


	13. Chapter 13 A Strange New Power

Chapter 13: A Strange New Power

Without stopping to view the shocking firework display of Septimus's particles vaporizing, Gotenks drifted quickly to ground level, where he split up into the two young warriors puffing and panting, keeled over with hands flat on their thighs for support.

Vegeta landed moments later. "Good work." he growled, with that being the full extent of the praise he'd offer them, silently being more proud than his words let on.

"Goten, Trunks!" barked Piccolo, suddenly appearing beside them in a bout of super speed, "How much did that last attack take out of you?"

The two men glanced sideways at each other, attempting to gauge their remaining strength through rapid breaths.

"Everything," Trunks finally replied, realising he lacked the ability to even hover properly; "at least from me." he looked to Goten quizzically.

"Me too." Goten confirmed.

"I see." Piccolo knew that Gotenks was now their strongest fighter; if it took every ounce of his strength plus Vegeta's aid then they'd be in big trouble when the higher ranking Vices showed up. There was always the option of focussing all their training onto Gotenks, though he knew that the stronger Gotenks got the shorter they could sustain fusion. It was a taxing sacrifice, strength in exchange for time might've been good now, but he doubted many of the stronger ones would go down in one blast as Septimus had.

The scenery was deadly still now, only the muffled patter of lizards making their way over rocks and the grating of the two waterfalls of sand back at the veranda sounded in the air. Trunks stood up straight.

"Raditz, how much time left in the glasses?" he asked.

Raditz looked to the mystical timers, staring at them for a full ten seconds to gauge the amount of time, "An hour maybe?" he said.

"Septimus said the others were close behind him." Piccolo grunted, observing the scenery with a paranoid scan. "Let's just hope that if one shows up it's one of the weaker ones; four and six still haven't presented themselves." Despite his words he knew the only people fit to take out number six were Vegeta and Gotenks, and both were now out of action. He hoped desperately that it wouldn't come to even that, and that they'd be gone before more reinforcements showed up.

"It's not the Vices I'm concerned about." The Z-fighters turned to the voice of Vegeta, but by the time their heads had swivelled, he'd warped in a flash. They turned back to the veranda just in time to see Vegeta coming out of his agility to smash a right hook straight into Gohan's cheek.

"Father!" Trunks cried, "What are you doing!?"

Gohan recoiled, with the force of Vegeta's fist knocking him onto his back. He got back to his feet quickly, only to find himself seized by the Prince, gripping the chest of his gi in a single tight fist, holding him up despite being half a foot shorter. The other fist was clenched and raised, ready to strike again if Gohan didn't answer accordingly.

"What's going on in that head of yours, _boy_?" Vegeta snarled, "Why did you back out from that fight!? He challenged you directly!"

It was a fair question, one which most of the Z-Fighters had intended to ask him later, though with more subtlety than their saiyan prince comrade.

Gohan met Vegeta's glare before replying. "I told you, he wasn't worth my time."

"Wasn't worth your time eh?" spat the prince with renewed anger, raising his right fist to strike the brat.

A flash of red suddenly intersected the lock, pushing both Gohan and Vegeta a few paces away from each other with Raditz now stood between them, having to utilise his super kaio-ken to break up the fight.

"That's enough you two!"

"Raditz is right!" Piccolo agreed, "We can't afford to be arguing amongst ourselves at a time like this!"

"I don't know how powerful you _think _you've become," Vegeta continued, hollering his words past Raditz to ignore the advice he gave, "but one thing you should've learned from Kakarot is that _no _enemy is never worth your time. He challenged you like an honourable man and you turned your back like a coward, making your own brother fight your battle for you!"

"Hey that's not fair!" Goten protested, "He didn't make me do anything."

"Maybe so," added Vegeta, folding his arms and looking away, calmer now that he had become submerged in self-righteousness, knowing he was not in the wrong, "but he still backed away, and I don't care to fight alongside comrades who have no honour. Your father would be ashamed."

Harsh words from Vegeta spread an awkward silence around the camp like warm butter as Gohan succumbed to the insults, letting his shoulders relax and arms sag to his sides. "You're right Vegeta," he admitted, "I should've fought him. I'm sorry."

"Good," Satisfied, the Prince sported a dry smile, "Now that that's settled we can-"

Simultaneously all six fighters picked up another power signal on the horizon, and turned towards it instantly, as Picollo's fears had been realised. They could tell even from this distance that this foe was of a higher rank and therefore power than Septimus. Thankfully it was just the one person, though they were still in more trouble than they'd like. Vegeta, Trunks and Goten were beat, and deep down the namekian knew his power couldn't possibly compete now.

With a sigh Raditz stepped forwards, rubbing his hands and stretching casually. Over the past few months the Z-Fighters had gotten the impression that the reformed saiyan actually didn't seek out fighting, doing it now only when he must, as a stark contrast to his attitude when he'd spent time on Earth, where the first thing he did upon his arrival was to actively find Goku to either reform or kill him.

"I guess I'm up then." Raditz presumed. He'd proven himself exceedingly powerful over the last few months, often keeping up toe to toe with Vegeta in heated bouts, so it seemed only natural for him to assume the position of fighter. He was wrong.

"Stand back Raditz, this one's mine." It was Gohan, re-straightening his combat gi and cracking his neck, "Something tells me this guy'll want to challenge me as well; they all will until I accept, because like they said, they have no info on me. If they really want to see my power then I guess I'll have to show them it right now won't I?"

Raditz stammered, astounded by his nephew's sudden bravery. Not twenty minutes ago he'd turned his back on his opponent in what he'd perceived as fright. It seemed he was experiencing Trunks's feeling of getting back into the groove of fighting again, but against such a powerful foe for a first opponent? "G-Gohan, are you sure?" he asked.

Gohan said nothing, only stared at the gleaming twinkle on the horizon line with a confident look in his eye.

"Let him go Raditz," advised Piccolo, "this is Gohan's fight."

"Mhm." Gohan affirmed with a defiant nod.

Gohan bolted off the veranda into a controlled flight towards his new opponent, though before he'd gotten ten metres away he stopped short in his tracks and turned back to the other warriors.

"Whatever happens out there, don't interfere." he said, and without explaining continued his flight over into the mountain region.

"Don't interfere?" muttered Goten, looking now to the rest of the fighters, "but what if he's being beaten really bad?"

"It's his fight now, like Piccolo said," Vegeta stated, "let's see if he can reclaim some honour."

The human/saiyan hybrid flew straight for two minutes until he and the newcomer stopped but a few paces away from one another. The new foe, as Gohan had anticipated, wore an enormous clock face tattoo on his torso, with the big hand pointing up as usual, and the smaller one pointing to number eight.

"Ah, number eight!" jested Gohan, being the first to speak, "I'm almost relieved. So you're number eight. . . And all your buddies names end in 'us'. . . So you must be. . ." Gohan put his thumb and his index finger to his chin as though thinking intently before continuing, "Octopus?"

"It's Octavius you fool!" spat the Vicis.

Octavius was a tall, thin man with lanky arms and legs reaching down further than they should've done to give him a truly bizarre figure. He appeared to have no proper muscles to speak of, just a stick thin stretch of bone reaching down his arm and legs, with their being no difference in thickness between his biceps and his forearms. Gohan smirked. His hair was black and waist length, and also greasy looking, as though he'd gone to five concerts in a week without ever washing his hair, and part of it was pulled over his face which was always contorted into a distrusting leer and a disproportionately wide mouth.

"Oh, my bad," corrected Gohan after incorrectly guessing, "yeah it would be pretty stupid if they called you Octopus huh? I'm Gohan. . . But I take it you know that already."

"Indeed, and I've been sent here to challenge _you_."

"So did that last guy, so why me?"

Octavius laughed, his voice thick with mania, as it seemed all the Vices harboured insane tendencies, "Well because we have no true records on you! Novus is quite the scientist, and it is his job to analyse our enemies and fill us in to give us an edge in battle. But you Gohan, the fights we have of you, your power level changes in each one for better or worse, making it impossible for us to get an accurate reading on where exactly you're at now."

"Well I hate to disappoint," he said, "but I haven't increased _that _much since the last time I was on Earth." he grinned as he saw the confident smile coming to his enemies face.

"Then this should be easy."

Octavius flashed an insane look of bloodlust before rushing his opponent with no warning. He flew across the gap between them at a blistering pace that Gohan's eyes struggled to keep up with, but he did so nonetheless. Sidestepping only half a pace the fighter avoided the full blow of Octavius's dashing fist to unleash his own straight into the stomach of the oncoming Vicis, whose quickened momentum only served to increase the pain. Without delay he followed through on his attack, twirling into a right elbow to deliver to the stunned enemy's back, though by then he'd warped away, retreating to a safe distance where he could recover from having the air knocked out of him.

"That last attack was sloppy; you underestimated me," Gohan called over, "I know you can do better than that."

The saiyan didn't give Octavius a chance to reply before he made for the man, exchanging a flurry of lighting fast punches, engaging the Vicis warrior. Octavius kept up, deflecting Gohan's punches while still throwing his own. They warped around the battlefield, each clashing with a powerful fist before dashing to another spot. Finally Octavius got a move in; he moved at the speed of sound towards the meeting spot of he and Gohan's next attack, and the second he reached it ducked low and out of the way of the man's attack, tripping him in midair with a clean sweep of his leg. Gohan fell, with Octavius closing in to blast him away with a kick, though Gohan met it with equal force, and the soles of their feet collided with a power sending them both soaring back fifty feet across the battlefield.

As he fell Gohan charged an attack, with a well powered kamehameha erupting from his palms as he slowed to a halt. The Vicis however, mirrored, sending his own beam of brilliant orange to meet the blast in the centre, where they exploded into dust that spewed across the battlefield without restraint.

"Just what is going on here?" Piccolo asked nervously back at the room, looking up at the inflating mushroom cloud.

"What do you mean?" Trunks asked, "Gohan's doing alright isn't he?"

"That's the point." interjected Vegeta, "I was at the second level of super saiyan before I could keep up with the last one's basic form, and this one is supposed to be even stronger, yet Gohan remains in his usual state."

Goten sported an all-knowing grin, being the only one aware of the full extent of his brother's power.

"I understand now." Octavius said, sparing time for a chat as his forearm snapped up to block Gohan's punch. "The reason you can keep up with me like that; that's your ultimate form isn't it? The kind you used almost twenty years ago."

Gohan said nothing, only continued his attack with a spray of small ki bombs to create distance.

"If that's the case then that's as high as you can go, so you won't stand a chance if I do this!"

The saiyan reacted with a look of fear as the number eight Vicis began to power up, the clock face upon his chest twisting and flexing in a blend of psychedelic colours. Octavius took pleasure in the horrified look now bestowed upon his opponent's face as Gohan raced towards him in an attempt to stop his ascension. But it was already too late. By the time Goku's son reached the thin man fist-first a shockwave coupled with a smoky haze had erupted from him to signify full power. Gohan coughed, waving his arm in front of him to reveal the monster that had appeared before him.

Octavius had morphed into some kind of eight armed abomination, his name apparently fitting his ability. While his torso and head had not changed, eight arms, each the thickness of small trees, sprouted from different sides of him. Each were at least fifteen feet in length, and differed in terms of ferocity; two contained sharp looking swords forged into the end, axes on another two, fists on the fifth and sixth, and the final couple ended in funnel shaped holes, which Gohan suspected fired energy blasts.

But the saiyan had no time to admire or revere the ascended Vicis before Octavius ploughed a fisted arm into his chest. Gohan had never met King Yemma before, but he'd heard about his size from his father, and imagined that if one were ever punched by him it would feel like this. A fist thicker than he was slammed into the poor hybrid, knocking saliva and blood from his body with a pair of broken ribs and a horrible sensation of nausea to go with it as he tried to catch his breath. He was sent straight into the ground a hundred feet below, and as he rolled over to get up a sword arm plunged into the ground where he'd been lain a second ago. Apparently he could extend his arms too, as Octavius still hovered high above. Gohan looked up, right into the blade of an axe centimetres away from his face. He reacted fast enough to avoid being cleaved in two, but the axe still caught him on his pivoting calf, showering red mist from the severed muscle.

Octavius retracted his weapons back towards him and made for Gohan in a swooping motion as though he were about to attack, but Gohan wouldn't let him.

"Kamehameha!"

The beam launched, and crossed through a hectic pattern of arms, looking as though it would hit its target before it was simply bashed away with one of Octavius's fists. The Vicis continued his dive bomb attack, and Gohan rolled forwards to avoid impalement by four bladed weapons, though from above Octavius simply fired two mirroring energy beams to the saiyan's landing spot, giving him a light toasting before the Vicis retreated again to a suitable distance.

With his back ablaze from destructive ki Gohan got to his feet once again, legs shaking and fingers trembling. Octavius found his desired range and turned back around, hovering a few houses high, fifty metres away from Gohan. Reckless with determination Gohan set off in flight towards him, figuring the Vicis would never expect a head on attack. As he flew Gohan twirled smoothly between an extended fist and two swords, and then ducked under an axe, avoiding an energy beam in the process. He continued, faster now towards his target, seeing the extended arms spanning out like a web around him. A flurry of small energy blasts shot from one of the funnel shaped arms, and Gohan dodged them as he narrowly evaded the final axe, with it passing right past his tilted body and taking a few wisps of his hair with it. There! Gohan had almost reached Octavius. He extended a fist and put all his weight and energy behind it, swinging with all his might, only inches away from the Vicis before the last fist knocked down onto his crown with a dizzying force. It didn't occur to him that he'd forgot about the final arm in his hurry for damage as he fell back to the floor, forming a crater in the rocks upon his impact not far from the room.

Octavius landed right on the cusp of the crater Gohan had formed, his retracted arms twirling around him teasingly.

"Gohan!" Raditz called out, with all the Z-Fighters watching in horror as Goku's first son lay face down in the rocks. Raditz flew from the veranda in a rage, straight towards Octavius.

"Raditz! Stop!"

All eyes turned to the voice. It was Gohan, who'd rolled over in his battered form, now on his back.

"Still alive eh?" Octavius taunted, "And still with the energy to speak. Impressive, I must say."

"Not just that."

Octavius watched in shock as Gohan put one arm in front of the other, staggering to his feet despite his body being completely ravaged. "Oh so you can stand too, what a shame you don't have a scrap of energy left to fight with."

"Well that's where you're wrong." Gohan said, brushing dust from his shredded gi. It was evident now that he was wearing another suit under the tattered trademark orange suit of the Son family. Weighted clothing? Or something else? "I guess it was a mistake to fight while you were powered up in this form."

Octavius flashed a look of irritancy, "Careful boy," he cautioned, "you almost make it sound as though you aren't at your fullest, when your power now mirrors that of your ultimate form, you can't go higher than that."

"This isn't my ultimate form." stated the saiyan. Suddenly he seized the collar of his gi with one hand and the pocket of his leggings with another, then tore them off with one clean pull to reveal the same suit blue and green trimmed the kais gave to him years ago. He steadied himself into a power stance, arms braced by each side, feet shoulder width apart. He prepared to power up. "_This _is my ultimate form!" he said.

* * *

_Steadfastly refusing to use the term 'Mystic'. xD I would've updated sooner but as usual I have an excuse: It was my birthday a few days ago! :D Yay for me! My 18th too, which finally makes drinking legal where I'm from (nerr nerr na nerr nerr :P) so as you can expect I've had a fair crazy week, went to see Lostprophets in Preston too! :D And I WILL explain the plothole of why Gohan has this form back somehow, even if it's a lame one. I feel like I'm making excuses for GT now_, _and rightly so. Anyhow I hope you enjoyed and all that jazz_, _correct me if there's any glaring mistakes I only quickly scanned it once or twice._


	14. Chapter 14 The Return of Ultimate Gohan

Chapter 14: The Return of Ultimate Gohan

Gohan's breathing slowed to a controlled rhythm as he finished his transformation, with the sheer magnitude of his power blowing out an enormous crater beneath and around him. The air stilled calmly and the shockwave of dust dissipated.

"T-That power!" Piccolo stammered, "It's unreal! I've never felt anything like it before! H-He's even stronger than a super saiyan four!"

Gohan's eyes slowly opened to reveal a focussed glare at his enemy, who was still stood in his fighting posture.

"Big deal." Octavius sneered, apparently not taking care to scan Gohan's new power level, "You've changed your clothes and healed your injuries; the result will still be the same."

"It's true," Gohan admitted, running a hand through his now slickened hair and brushing aside the single strand, "the external changes for this form aren't as noticeable as the super saiyan transformation. The eyes or the hair don't change colour, and in all honesty I don't _look_ all that pumped up. But I'm still beyond your level right now."

Angrily, Octavius sent forth two of his arms, causing Gohan to drop into his fighting posture and warp into thin air. None kept up with his movements, but they didn't have to, in less than a second he reappeared, stomping down on an elasticised arm so hard that it buried its way into the ground and severed cleanly under his boot. With one down he quickly twisted his body to where he'd been just a moment ago to see the second arm retracting, and without hesitation launched one of Piccolo's special beam cannons right through it.

Octavius shrieked in pain like a wolf who'd stepped on a shard of glass. Two of his arms were now gone, one sword and one fist arm were out of action, reducing his attack power by a quarter.

"It's the same as last time!" Gohan stated loudly, "You underestimated my power at the start of our fight and you just did it again. That move was sloppy; your fault, not mine."

"But how!? How!?" Octavius wheezed as curiously green blood trickled away from two stumps to form a pair of thick puddles in the earth. Finally he'd noticed Gohan's change in power, "How did you acquire such strength!?"

"In the last fight your buddy mentioned that you located us from us visiting the Kai planet. Vegeta and his team didn't go there, only Goten and I did, only hours before our meeting, which kind of makes it our responsibility to take care of you guys showing up. While we were there the Elder Kai explained to me that last time, I lost my ultimate form from not training for almost twenty years, which I guess is understandable. It didn't take long for him to reawaken my power, and believe me I'm never letting this form slip away from me again. It's a shame; I was hoping to save this till later, but I guess there's no helping it now."

"But your fight against the Majin! We have records; that form barely surpassed a super saiyan 3 in strength – now you've gone past the fourth level!" protested Octavius, noting that the saiyan's logic made little sense.

"Well I've had time to train and master it now and I suppose it might've helped a little that the Elder Kai has gotten used to his own powers again, I guess he made me a little stronger this time around."

"Arghh!" snarled the Vicis, but Gohan merely waved his finger cautiously, warning the man not to get angry and try another rage-blinded attack.

Octavius hesitated for just a moment in wondering what to do, but a moment was all Gohan needed. In that time he'd bounded forwards and with four steps he'd landed a three hit combo on his enemy, first a jab to the face, then a high kick to ribs followed up by a final right hook to knock the man off balance. Gohan smiled, knowing that with his long arms Octavius would be at a disadvantage at such close range, though something told him that the Vicis would not let him stay close for long. Out of the corner of his eye he saw an axe bladed arm and a fist twitch to his flank, and so he leapt up and into the sky as the two arms made a move for him, trying to make the fighter hit himself with his own attack. It didn't work, as he'd expected; this man was no Freeza, and wouldn't fall for such a cheap trick.

Instead, Octavius launched up another fist-like tree trunk arm into the sky after Gohan, but only one arm; this was his chance. Dodging nimbly, Gohan spun away from the incoming attack and seized the massive arm with all his might, pulling up as he did so. Due to the excess weight of six thick arms, Octavius was colossally heavy, though it was nothing Gohan's new strength couldn't handle. He lifted the Vicis right off the ground and up over his head before swinging him around comically like he was an Olympic hammer thrower. Octavius tried to start attacks at the saiyan, but completely missed thanks to him being spun at high speeds. In fact it made the creature so dizzy that he didn't notice Gohan had let go of him until several seconds later, by which time he could do nothing to stop himself ploughing uncontrollably through a rock face into the caverns below.

"Alright! Go Gohan!" cheered on his little brother from the sidelines, with the Z-Fighters realising in astonishment that Gohan was winning.

"You knew about this transformation of Gohan's, didn't you Goten?" accused Piccolo suddenly, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Ehh, because he asked me not to!" Goten protested, "To be honest I didn't know he'd become _that _powerful. But I'm sorry Piccolo; I suppose he just wanted it to be a surprise."

A rare smile came to the green lips of the namekian, showing his pearly white fangs that Goten presumed were natural, and then in thinking that he chuckled at the thought of Piccolo brushing his teeth in the morning. "It's alright," Piccolo finally said, "I'm proud of him. He's grown a lot since I trained him all those years ago. But we can't let it get to our heads, Gohan hasn't won yet!"

"Right!" The fighters averted their attention back to the brawl.

"Come on I know you're down there!" Gohan called from above down into the man-sized hole Octavius had smashed through to land in the caverns.

As if on cue a pair of bright orange ki beams poured from the cave simultaneously. Two at the same time; now that was something Gohan had never seen before. He supposed it was due to the funnel shaped arms that spouted energy that Octavius owned, though the result was still the same. He met the first with a blast of his own to detonate it midflight and zipped away from the second, and then something else strange happened. In a clearly Vegeta-inspired move the Vicis started to spew out thousands of small ki spheres from the cave to meet Gohan, which he toyed around with, ducking and weaving between most of them, batting away the ones he couldn't avoid. It was a trying ordeal, keeping him on his toes to never stop dodging from place to place, yet he knew it must've been tiring on Octavius too. Finally the flurry ceased and the tattered body of Octavius glided up majestically into the open once again, causing Gohan to smirk.

"I wouldn't think you've won just yet!" Octavius cried, making the saiyan realise too late the nature of his enemy's attack. Rather than spray misguided shots in all direction, Octavius had organised a guided scatter shot; the ki spheres that Gohan had avoided had stopped behind him, hovering around him in midair, ready for the Vicis to reclaim control of. He did so, clenching his remaining fist arm to guide the countless surrounding energy balls to Gohan's spot, swarming him with a whole manner of tiny explosions, laughing manically as he did so.

"Gohan!" cried the brother of the saiyan, as he began to become engulfed by the smoke of thousands of attacks. Without waiting for the aftermath Octavius flew up into the dust and extended all four of his remaining attack arms into the chaos, smiling with grim satisfaction as he felt one sear into flesh. A cry came from the smoky cloud before Gohan fell out of it towards the floor, bleeding profusely and making pained grunts in clear agony. With a lucky shot Octavius had slashed one of his axes right across Gohan's abdomen, not deep enough to require surgery, but at least enough to set his torso ablaze with pain. He landed to the floor and Octavius mirrored, though both were hurt: leaning forwards and each a hand clasped to their injuries they gasped for air and steadied their stances. Neither had the energy to keep fighting now and they knew it as well as the observing Z-Fighters back at the room.

"You barely have the strength to stand." Gohan said, not quite managing to string together a full sentence without pausing for breath in between some words, "How about you give up?"

"Never!" Octavius spat, "This is just the beginning! You don't look in too good shape either! That last attack I did seems to have done more damage than you let on."

As though upon his words Gohan winced in pain at being reminded of his slashed gut that still gushed saiyan blood onto the ground like a waterfall. "Then I'm going to put all my energy into this last attack I've been working on! You should too if you want to survive it!" Gohan proposed, taking a wider stance, digging his heels into the ground to brace for it.

"Suit yourself!"

Suddenly the two identical funnels atop Octavius's arms glowed into bright orange light, swirling around him before he bonded them in the middle a foot or so away from him. Gohan's hands became surrounded in a bright blue flame-like ki as he flowed them into some sort of sultry dance-like manoeuvre. Finally they met in the middle in a cup shape, where a ball of iridescent blue formed in his palms. Octavius's reddish aura flared out angrily with the concentration of power going into the attack, and Gohan's own of silvery white did the same. Rocks rose from the rubble, separated by the raw mass of energy, and the craters around them widened to bring the surrounding cliffs crumbling to the ground. All the while they stared intently across the distance at one another, trying to psych the other out, preparing themselves for what was to come.

"Ultimate!" Gohan cried out, shuffling his frame into a sturdier position again for the final time. "Kaa," more rocks were ripped from the ground and up into the sky upon his words. "Meyy," the tiny, blue, tennis ball sized sphere in his hands widened and thickened into the size of a small football. "Haa," light spewed out in all different directions, bounding of the earth and dancing across Gohan's look of grim determination like a strobe light at a nightclub. "MEYY"

"Your time's up Gohan!" Octavius snarled, charging his own attack, "You'll never survive this!"

"HAA!!!" Gohan unleashed his attack with the well practiced thrust of his arms.

Entire boulders were torn from their resting place underneath the enormous ki pressure of the two enormous, dazzling beams homing towards each other, creating a straight line track of littered debris from Octavius to Gohan as the attacks collided. They stayed put at dead centre, with both fighters holding fast as the entire place around them caved in with the intense atmosphere. Octavius's orange beam of pure hatred and Gohan's blue flaming 'Ultimate Kamehameha' seemed neck and neck, and the Z-Fighters watched with nail biting anticipation for the finale. Brightly coloured bloom fanned out in all directions to make the fighters shield their eyes to make out the struggle.

Octavius sported a frenzied cackle over the roar of the attack and began to pour in even more energy, tapping into even his very own life force. The struggle weakened, and soon the orange beam had overtaken Gohan's, who gritted his teeth and struggled under the incredible intensity his body hadn't fully gotten used to yet. Soon Octavius's attack had taken up almost three quarters of the gap; Gohan was losing.

"Come on Gohan!"

"Yeah you can do it!"

Gohan and Octavius turned; Goten and Trunks were cheering on their fighter, as was Raditz behind them. He looked to them, thinking of his family, his friends and his entire life, and then something strange happened. A man suddenly teleported in behind the crowd, who were oblivious thanks to their watching him intently. It had been so long since he'd seen him that he'd forgotten what he looked like, but there was no mistaking it. It was Goku, waving goofily like an idiot with his boyish smile to cheer him on. Speaking of boyish, he wasn't that anymore – he was back to the appearance of his old self, a twenty-something man with a thickened body chiselled from marble.

Octavius laughed again and closed the gap even further, which made Gohan snap out of his trancelike state and avert his now furious look back to the Vicis.

"HAA!!!" He screamed again, drawing himself up to full height to further open up the wound in his stomach and unleash every last vestige of power within him. His aura was set ablaze with ki as the beam re-intensified to vomit out more harsh azure light around the battlefield. In a matter of seconds it was over. Octavius's expression warped to one of surprise and the new kamehameha raged back to the centre before overruling his own quickly. With a final push the attack overwhelmed him, disintegrating the Vicis and half the world behind him, whatever uninhabited planet they were on. But Gohan didn't care. Completely drained and lacking any remaining ki to speak of Gohan hobbled back over the veranda to meet a merry party of Z-fighters, but not Goku.

"Dad! Where's Dad?" he asked worriedly.

"What do you mean?" Goten quizzed, "Dad's not here."

"He was! He was right there I saw him!" Gohan pointed with a trembling right arm over to the spot where his father had stood behind the crowd of fighters, his taller form just about peering over Vegeta's crazy hairdo.

Piccolo looked back with the others into nothingness, "Goku was here?" he asked, "Did anyone else see him?"

As expected, a chorus of 'no's went around the room, much to Gohan's dismay.

"But he was right there. . ." he repeated.

"Could it be you just imagined it?" Raditz posed.

"No! I'm telling you he was there!"

Vegeta eyed Gohan suspiciously, seeing that the boy truly believed his own words.

"Or. . ." the man hesitated, letting his arms sag to his sides in defeat. It had all happened so fast, could it have just been wishful thinking? "Maybe. I don't know." he admitted, "Maybe all this power's going to my head."

"Yeah well don't count us as safe just yet, we've got company!" Raditz cried, pointing over to the horizon.

Six of them; six Vices headed their way. With their strongest fighters out for the count they had to get away right now.

"It's alright I've got a plan." Piccolo revealed, and without divulging into it he made his way across the porch. Since they had each lost an hourglass and their rooms had combined, they now had two remaining in total. In both cases destroying the hourglass had succeeded in dislodging them from time, so it was worth a shot to try again; there were still eight or nine minutes left, and the six would reach them in under two. Piccolo took his place a few steps away from one of the hourglasses, placing two cackling forefingers to his antenna propped forehead.

"No!" Raditz complained as he flapped his hands hysterically, "Piccolo! What are you doing!?"

"Special Beam Cannon!!!"

* * *

_JTX1000 fills in crappy GT plotholes so you don't have to. So yeah I just realised this whole time I'd been spelling Piccolo wrong: I usually spell it with two 'l's and one 'c' like it's pronounced, but for some odd reason apparently it's spelt the other way around. I fixed it in this chapter and the last but going through the whole thing just seems pointless, you all know who I'm referring to anyway. So yeah, Gohan is Ultimate _(_or 'Mystic' if you prefer), Piccolo is being drastic and Goku in his odd, mysterious appearance is full size again! Yaaay! Seriously, why the hell did they make him a child in GT? Did ANYONE see any point to it? Don't even get me started, I could write a whole damn chapter about it_. _And I would've put this up days ago but was being a goon._


	15. Chapter 15 Home Again

Chapter 15: Home Again

A solar flash of the brilliant white light streaked across the view of the Z-Fighters to engulf the space ahead of them into nothingness. The Room of Spirit and Time rocked like an unstable planet and threw the fighters around its spaces on the open porch, threatening to engulf them into the bottomless void of fluctuating time and space energy.

"Everyone hold on to something!" yelled Piccolo over the sound of colliding furniture behind him as he gripped onto one of the thin pillars of the archway. The room spun as a flimsy coat hanger in a dryer through the void, luckily Gohan and Vegeta ended up in the main, roofed area of the room, though the others weren't so lucky. Raditz clung to the support pillar opposing Piccolo's own and Trunks and Goten desperately hung onto the sides of the open doorway.

Flight would do no good here; for flight one placed their ki underneath them to push away from the ground, supporting their own weight. Here however, the room spun so violently and unpredictably that the angle of the floor changed every second, making steadying oneself nigh on impossible. The room spun one way and then jerked another suddenly. Three of them had their firm grips loosened, whereas poor Goten on the other hand was thrown from his position of the door frame to hurtle down the now vertical slide of the veranda.

"Goten!" Trunks's arm snapped out in an instant to catch his falling friend's wrist, and he kept a tight grip as he tried his best not to look down into the bleach white void below him.

Along with the clattering of pottery, the smashing of ornaments and the cracking of bunk beds smacking into one another, the void howled with an unnatural, thunderous roar.

"I'm going down to help out!" called Raditz over the noise, seeing his nephew and a prince of his race in danger.

"No! Raditz!" cried Piccolo. But it was too late; Raditz had already set off down the now slanted floor towards the pair when the room toppled and flipped out again just as he was within arm's reach, causing him to fall back down the porch now with nothing to cling on to.

"Raditz!"

Gohan suddenly appeared at the free side of the doorway despite the tumbling of the room, and with a lightning fast reflex he'd caught his uncle Raditz by the scruff of the collar on his black gi. The room then shook more brutally than ever, and in his already weakened state the man let go of his grip sending both saiyan warriors plummeting downwards towards the emptiness of space.

"Gohan!" Piccolo then finally made his move; with one hand he let go of the bar and in a flash he'd extended his right arm a whole eight feet in length to coil itself firmly around Gohan and Raditz, suspending them there in vertigo like a green bungee rope. "Idiots!" he criticised from above. Now the light from the abyss began to shine more brightly than ever, indicating that their transportation was finally at hand.

"Finally!" cried Goten's voice over the racket.

The pack of eager Vices had been speeding at full pelt towards their target when it had suddenly vanished before their eyes thanks to the namekian's quick thinking. Duodecimus had been first to arrive, coming to a quick halt in the empty space where the room had been half a second ago, sporting a bitter look of anger that now overwhelmed him. Master would not be pleased. He flashed a look of displeasure to his subordinates before finally settling on the weakest.

"They got away again Quatrus! What's your excuse this time! You're supposed to be Novus's science bitch!" he taunted.

"Sir – begging your pardon, but it was not I who let them escape – I had no idea what would happen; they should've had more time left, but apparently they have some kind of failsafe." Quatrus whimpered.

"What do you mean 'apparently'! Does this _interest _you Quatrus! Do you know how many men we've lost to these brats so far!" Duodecimus roared.

"Yes sir – I mean no sir – I mean – uh. . . No to the first and yes to the second sir."

"Are you mocking me Quatrus!" The leading Vicis suddenly grabbed his colleague by the neck and elevated him to his own level, towering almost a whole foot in height above the other.

"No sir! I assure you! No sir!"

"I should kill you where you stand for your idiocy!" Duodecimus raised a powerful fist in a threatening motion before a beeper in his pocket began to alarm. He dropped Quatrus hesitantly with a snarl and retrieved a small communicator from his back pocket. "Novus." he answered. "This had better be important."

"Sir I assure you it is." a voice proclaimed in a robotic, distorted tone. "We're already picking up their signals, and you'll never guess where they've landed."

"I don't care where they've landed, how soon can we re-establish contact with the vessel?" insisted Duodecimus.

"The second their craft re-enters the warp phase we can home in on them and keep them and redirect them to the void as usual."

Duodecimus smiled as he pressed a small button on the receiver to end their conversation. He flashed a malicious grin to Quatrus, still quaking in fear even after being saved from his direct boss.

"You've had a lucky escape there Quatrus." he said. "Take Seni and pursue them the second they leave! If the rest of us have to come in ourselves to back you up then! . .-Actually if we have to do that you'll probably be dead anyway, but if there's anything left of you I'll be sure to cause you ultimate suffering before utterly destroying you. Do you understand me?"

"Y-Yes sir."

"Good. . ."

Trunks was the first to regain consciousness a minute or two later. After the final flash of light the six fighters had been rendered immobile thanks to its intensity, though he now awoke in the room surrounded by a strange mountainside with a hint of nostalgia creeping its way into the back of his mind. He roused Goten and then the others, so that within a couple of minutes the five who had collapsed on the veranda were on their feet, scratching their heads in confusion.

"Is everyone alright!" Trunks asked.

A chorus of wheezy and questionable yeses echoed around the room with varying levels of certainty.

"Piccolo, what the hell did you do?" Goten asked once he'd checked for injuries.

"Destroying those hourglasses seems to dislodge us in space and often time from wherever we are. So what I really did was to just get us away from them. They'll be back, of that I have no doubt, but we're safe for now. How long's left in the last hourglass?"

"Ages; wherever we are now we'll be stuck here for a good few days, maybe even a week." Gohan replied.

"That's good." replied Piccolo.

"Good!" Goten looked confused, "How is that good? We have no idea where we are!"

"No, but I'd stake my life on the fact that there's nowhere in our universe more dangerous that their lair."

"Hmm, good point." Goten said, considering briefly and scratching his head before looking around and dumbly adding. "Where's Vegeta?"

At his cue the other fighters looked around their immediate environment. Vegeta was nowhere to be seen and for a moment the five felt ashamed that it had taken them so long to realise; it wasn't as if Vegeta's presence was something that could go casually unnoticed.

"Father?" Trunks poked his head through the door and into the kitchen and pantry area, and then headed further in with the others at his tail. "Faaather?" he repeated the second he entered the next room. The bedroom was a wreck, with two collapsed sets of bunk beds and a number of bedside tables piled on top of each other cramped into one side of the room, obscuring from view who was underneath them. Vegeta suddenly burst from the wreckage with the sound of cracking wood, sending fallen stands and tables in every direction. Trunks skilfully caught a pillow that zoomed his way before making his way for the others to enter. Vegeta stood, still tired from the battle and sweating from the extreme heat of being trapped under half a dozen blankets. His hair was flattened in some areas and stuck out in odd directions; if someone didn't make a joke now it would've been a waste.

"Love the new do Vegeta, but now's no time for a sleep!" said Goten. He and the others exploded into ridiculous laughter that only got louder the more Vegeta went brighter. Even Piccolo managed a chuckle at seeing the Prince's predicament. He straightened his clothes and simply shook his hair to spring it up to its natural peak, muttering something that sounded like 'idiot' as he stepped from the wreckage.

After a short time laughing off the incident the fighters left the room and stepped onto the veranda with the pride-wounded Vegeta in tow. Just as Gohan left the building he felt a firm hand clasp on his shoulder, and for a moment it felt like his father's, but in turning round he saw that it was Goku's older brother approaching him.

"I appreciate what you did back there." he said. "You didn't have to stick your neck out for me; you're well within your rights to hate my guts."

"You're my uncle." Gohan shrugged.

"I also killed your father right before your eyes." reminded Raditz.

Gohan simply shrugged again. "He'd disapprove if I hated you. He always saw the good in people, and I'd say right now you've got plenty to go around. Plus, we need all the help we can get in this war."

Raditz nodded and shook Gohan's hand, fixing him with a determined look that showed beyond any doubt in Gohan's mind that he'd changed. "You're your father's son alright."

"Yeah well, be sure to tell him that if he comes back."

"_When _he comes back." Raditz corrected.

Gohan only nodded meekly.

The fighters surveyed their surroundings, looking for any clues to their exact whereabouts when suddenly Piccolo's eyes widened in shock, as did Vegeta's.

"What is it Piccolo?" quizzed Trunks. "Where are we?"

"Home." answered Vegeta, with a smile now coming to his lips. He looked around in hindsight. "This is the spot where Nappa and I landed and destroyed resistance from the old fighters. A saibaiman killed Yamcha, then Nappa destroyed Chiaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo."

"Yeah thanks for that." Piccolo grunted.

"Come on namek, it was a long time ago." reminded Vegeta.

"I meant about the 'old' part."

Vegeta allowed himself a quiet chuckle at one of the namekian's rare attempts at humour.

After his joke Piccolo suddenly looked serious again, as though he'd realised a vital fact. "We need to make sure we train hard in these days we get on earth – no relaxing."

"Why not Piccolo?" quipped up Goten.

"Because the second we leave they'll be waiting for us." Vegeta finished the namek's sentence, realising the consequences of their being here just a few moments after Piccolo did.

"What!"

"Those things might not be able to transport themselves without the room, but they're observing all the places in our past experiences that could help them find us; Septimus let it slip. Gohan and Goten ended up at the planet of the Kais, and since they were watching the Vices managed pinpoint our location, then twist the void to capture us again. Now that we've come back to Earth they'll know exactly where we are; the second that last grain of sand falls we'll be in their turf." Piccolo's lengthy discussion went over the heads of the younger saiyans, but to Raditz, Vegeta and partly Gohan, it made sense. The Vices inhabited the other dimension beyond the void and could somehow distort their plain to lead the room right to them. Once they were _inside_ the room - or the vessel as they called it, they could take it to wherever they wanted, including their target of Earth.

"And you can bet your tail there'll be a bunch waiting for us when we get there." finished Raditz with a gulp.

Vegeta nodded and set off into the sky, levelling out into a hover a few hundred feet up so that he could see the entire landscape. The fighters then flew up to join the saiyan prince, who seemed to be silently debating where exactly he wanted to go.

"We should head for the Lookout." Piccolo advised. "We may not be in our own time period, so we should take shelter where no one can find us."

"Actually Piccolo, we are in our own time period, look." Gohan displayed his own wrist-mounted gravity enhancer and flipped a button to show the date and time. It was a week or so after they'd left, but a full year to Trunks and Vegeta.

Piccolo considered for a moment, trying to sense whether or not this was a good idea. At any rate they'd only be here for a short while before the room whisked them away again. After finally deciding that there was no harm to be done by them visiting their families, the namek nodded.

"Alright, but meet back at the room in two days to try so we can see how much time we've got left. I'll talk to Dende and Popo to try and get them to fix it. When we get a decent estimate we'll meet back at the room an hour before the vial runs out, but if you're running late it shouldn't matter since the room automatically teleports you back if you're outside when it runs out."

"Gotcha Piccolo, see you guys! Come on father! Let's go see mom!" cried Trunks, flying away with a wave and a stream of energy as Vegeta chased after him.

Gohan smiled and exchanged a look from Piccolo to his younger brother. "Me and Goten will go back home, if that's alright."

"Sure." Piccolo agreed. "I'll find Popo and Dende and see if I can get us any more help."

"Alright." Gohan was about to dive into a high speed flight when he quickly turned, realising he'd forgotten something. "Raditz? You coming?"

"Me?" Raditz looked stunned by the offer, but by the polite smiling faces of his nephews he could see it was no joke. He nervously shuffled his feet and fidgeted with his index fingers. "Uhh, I should really help out Piccolo."

"It's alright Raditz." Piccolo assured. "I can do this by myself; you go and meet your family, hopefully you'll be able to handle your sister in law."

"Why? What's she like?"

"Oh, you'll see." jested Goten. "Come on, let's go! I'm hungry!"

"_What the HELL is that man doing in our house!" _Chi-Chi stood through a blood red haze showing an expression of sheer disgust, armed with a frying pan and a spatula that she wasn't afraid to use.

"Hey mom." whimpered Goten innocently, finally winking an eye open. "Is there any chance Raditz can stay?"

"_What were you boys thinking!"_

"Is that a no?" Gohan dared to ask.

"_Gohan! That man KILLED your father!"_

Goten jumped to his uncle's aid with a weak retort. "Well, technically Piccolo killed h-"

"_Enough! And where have you two been! A whole week in that room and. . ."_

Raditz simply stared at the floor and tried to block out the sound of Chi-Chi's frantic ravings, complaining about how ludicrous their misadventures had become and how they were now too old for this. _This could've gone better_, he thought to himself. For once in his life the saiyan actually wished he was back in hell, what with the numerous occasions he thought Chi-Chi would hit him and the constant shrieking reminders of his deeds thirty year ago. The two saiyan hybrids attempted to explain the desperation of their circumstances and the woman would nod with understanding, fretting whenever the two mentioned the fight they'd each got into. It was just as they'd finished narrating their tale and as Chi-Chi began to criticise Goten for not yet settling down that Raditz finally intervened. The small talk had gone on long enough, the awkward twenty minutes they'd been arguing felt to him like twenty hours, and there was one question he was anxious to ask.

"Chi-Chi," He spoke at last, finally stepping forwards. "I know this isn't the most ideal situation, but we need to know. In the space these two have been gone have you seen anything of Kakar-"

Gohan rescued his uncle a helpful warning stare.

"Goku." Raditz corrected.

Chi-Chi's downcast look at the mention of her husband's disappearance said it all. She immediately seemed saddened, lamenting how little time they'd spent together before he ran away for the millionth time. "No," she said sadly. "For a moment I thought I did the other day, but it turned out to be my imagination; silly old grandma must be going senile."

"Wait – I saw him earlier too!" Gohan jumped up from his chair and into the conversation. "Wait, mom – what did he look like?"

Chi-Chi considered for a moment. "Well, that's how I knew I was imagining it; he was back to his old self again, back before those strange Dragonballs turned him to a little boy."

"It's strange, that's exactly what I saw too." Gohan paused, thinking over the implications. "This can't be a coincidence. Nobody get their hopes up too high but. . . I think he might be coming back soon."

"Really!" Chi-Chi squealed in delight. "Oh that's so wonderful!"

"Calm down mom, he said don't get your hopes up too high!" reminded Goten.

But Chi-Chi was having none of it. Her eyes lit up like tiny stars and seemed to twinkle she danced around the room unrivalled in happiness. "Oh, this it great! Should I change my hair? Get a makeover? Oh! Maybe I should throw a huge party for when he gets back!"

Seeing that his mother was in the best mood he'd seen her in years, Goten seized the opportunity. "So mom, is it okay if uncle Raditz stays?"

"Oh, of course! I wouldn't want my Goku to miss out on seeing his brother when he gets baa-aack." she sung, scaring away a pair of birds perched on the windowsill.

A tired Bulma made her way down one of the many long and winding corridors of Capsule Corporation, finishing yet another hard day's work in a company that she'd handed down to her son a number of years ago. But since that time, over a year ago, both her son and husband had disappeared in the Room of Spirit and time. One day on the outside was equal to a year in the room, meaning that after the door had been sealed shut the two would've had to be inside the room for three hundred and sixty five years. Their food supply would've ran out after the first and they'd have slowly starved to death. A faint glimmer of hope still shined occasionally within Bulma, but she was a woman of science and rational thinking; she knew that the probability of her husband and son still being alive were slim to none, which was why her heart almost stopped when she saw the two of them standing in the doorway.

"Hello there beautiful." said Vegeta, his gruff tone sounding odd when mixed with a rare compliment.

Bulma dropped her clipboard and sank to the steel floors of the Capsule Corporation hallway. She'd been so stricken with shock that she instantly collapsed upon seeing them.

Vegeta was left with a dumbstruck expression that conveyed ultimate confusion as Trunks exploded with laughter and rushed over to Bulma's unconscious form.

"Was it something I said?"

"No father, you generally have that effect on people." chided Trunks as he continued to laugh some more. He sat his mother up with one hand and gently shook her head with the other to rouse her.

Bulma opened her eyes slowly; still dazed from the blow to the head she'd received on the impact. After a few seconds her vision cleared to see Trunks supporting her, with Vegeta standing over them with a satisfied smirk across his face. "Trunks? . ." she muttered, slapping both hands on his face to make sure he was real. "Trunks!" after realising that this was no dream the blue haired scientist flung her arms around her son and exploded into a fit of joyous tears.

"Earthlings: so sensitive." criticised Vegeta.

* * *

_Hey guys! Me again! Been a while huh? Almost 3 months :( Yeah that's my bad. I've had serious computer trouble and final exams are at the end of next month. 30th of June is the last one, but I'll try to get another two or three chapters up before then to make up for lost time. After that I've got until September off so I'm gonna go sick and try and finish this whole thing over the summer and maybe even get started on a new FanFiction project_, _thanks for understanding :)_


	16. Chapter 16 The Penultimate Allies

Chapter 16: The Penultimate Allies

Slowing to a controlled hover beforehand, Piccolo landed smoothly on the surface of the Lookout and rushed to meet Mr. Popo, who was enjoying his usual routine of watering the flowers and watching the butterflies. It was only when Piccolo's seven foot tall shadow loomed over the genie like a bad omen did Popo finally realise someone was there, and he hopped back in fright to the floor squealing.

"Calm down Popo it's just me." Piccolo growled.

Popo's face suddenly lit up like a replenished light bulb. "Master Piccolo sir!" he cried, flinging his arms around the namek, who awkwardly shuffled in response to Popo's unexpected actions. Piccolo was the re-fused form of the misanthropic original and Popo's original master Kami, and though he kept the appearance of Piccolo, the subtle changes in his attitudes and mannerisms never slipped past the loyal servant.

"Piccolo!" cried a younger voice, revealing itself to be Dende as he walked from the building and into the sunlight. "Back from the dead eh?"

"For a third time." answered Piccolo rather smugly.

"But how did you escape hell? I suppose it has something to do with the reappearance of Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan and Goten."

Piccolo's eyes smiled; nothing escaped Dende. "So you know about that?"

"I'm the guardian of Earth; it's my job to know that."

"I suppose so."

"So what exactly happened?"

Piccolo then delved into a detailed explanation of the events leading up to the resurrection of Raditz and himself, how the saiyan had changed his ways, how Vegeta and Trunks had bailed them out and how the four of them had teamed up against the new foes named the 'Vices'. He told them about the room's malfunction and how it had zipped them around to different parts in time, eventually leading up to the merging of the Room containing Gohan and Goten with their own. He finished his story with the conclusion of their last battle and his deduction of how the hourglasses were linked to their connection with space and time.

"Interesting, interesting." said Dende, pondering over the strange explanations. "I did not build the room with this in mind; tell me, these Vices who dwell in the next dimension, are they powerful?"

"Very." Piccolo nodded his head instantly. "I just about managed to defeat the second weakest. If I'd have been pitted against any higher than that I probably wouldn't be here right now. There are six of them left in total as well as a grand overseer, and judging by the power difference between the respective ranks, I'd say he's ridiculously strong."

"Hmm," Dende considered again. "Do the Kais know about this?"

"Gohan and Goten visited them on their journey, and they didn't give any indication. These guys are tougher than any opponent we've ever faced before. So that's why I've come here, firstly to see if you can fix the room and lock them away in that dimension again, but if that fails I'll need you to locate a few of the strong fighters on Earth so I can persuade them to join us."

"You've got the strongest fighters in the universe already in on your mission; is it really this serious that you need backup?" asked Dende, surprised.

"Yes; they may not do much in the grand scheme of things, but we could use all the help we can get."

Dende nodded and made his way to Piccolo's side, preparing to leave the safety of this place for the first time in ages. He braced himself into his uneasy flying stance and with a nod to Piccolo the two of them took flight, soaring down past Korin's tower and into the clouds, leaving Mr. Popo shaken with a leaking water can still spraying the saturated ground.

Thanks to Dende's low power level the two of them had to fly slowly, though Piccolo didn't mind so much. They had at least a few days back home so there was no sense in rushing this.

"So Dende." called over the older namek. "I was wondering if you'd heard anything from Goku while we've been away. I've a feeling we'll need his help by the end of this."

Dende shook his head sadly. "I can't say I have, Piccolo. I don't know where Goku is exactly but I do know that he's not here on Earth."

Piccolo nodded; it had been a long shot anyway, he'd never have expected Goku to have shown up anywhere, it was in his nature to disappear from time to time and show up again in a few years time.

A fast hour passed as the two namekians raced through the clouds before they eventually reached the grounded Room of Spirit and Time just as they'd left it. As Piccolo had expected though, he was completely oblivious to its presence until he took a step within its boundaries, whereupon the same shock overtook him just as Piccolo had done a while back. After getting over the initial surprise Dende headed to the high hourglasses, inspecting each one and their smashed partners one at a time with interest.

"Can you fix them?" probed an impatient Piccolo.

"I'm sorry Piccolo, but I daren't try." revealed Dende, looking annoyed at himself. "One wrong move and I could blow us and this place to pieces, or even open the void and let those creatures come flooding in."

Piccolo considered asking him to try anyway, but the threat of letting the Vices onto Earth was far too risky to take a chance on, so Piccolo let it slide for the time being. "It's alright." he said. "But the humans are going to need more supplies; I can live on water, but there are five _saiyans _onboard this thing and more if I can get help. Our food supply is running scarce."

"I'll get right on it."

"One last thing." Piccolo added. "I need you to locate. . ." The namek trailed off, wondering who would be suitable for this mission. Yamcha had given up fighting and would be of little use. Tarble, the other remaining saiyan, was no fighter; neither was Dende himself despite being a namekian. Krillin was powerful, but he considered himself too old and had a family to look after and his even more powerful wife would refuse for the same reason. Gohan was too protective of his little princess to let Pan go, and Chiaotzu was far too fragile to handle the Vices, which left only two candidates.

"I need Tien and Uub, right away." he decided.

"Got it." Dende instantly shut his eyes as his antenna began to twitch, searching the globe for the two fighters. He found them in a heartbeat and placed both hands on Piccolo's temples to project the mental image to him in a strangely surreal experience.

"Thank you Dende." Without wasting time Piccolo homed in on the signals and set off into the air, though had only gotten three metres off the ground when the Guardian stopped him.

"Piccolo!" he called, causing the elder to stop in his tracks. "I'm glad you're alive – I mean, it's good to see you again."

Piccolo smiled pleasantly, knowing that the young namek they'd picked up all those years ago had grown to be a fine guardian. "Thanks Dende; you too."

With that Piccolo took off after the strong energy signals he'd locked onto. As he quickly neared it with his unbelievable speed it became increasingly apparent that the two were training together. _Good, _he figured. _This'll make things easier._

_

* * *

_

"Not good enough! How many times have I told you to never take your eyes off your opponent!" screamed Vegeta, materialising right before Trunks's eyes and slamming a heavy fist right into the jaw of his super saiyan 3 son.

Trunks bounced and skidded headfirst across the high gravity chamber of the Capsule Corporation training area, a place he rarely visited for this very reason. With a recovering spring the lavender haired hybrid got to his feet and spied a brief glimpse of his father incoming three metres to his left. He crouched low and cupped his hands into a frothing ball of energy, arching his body like a coiled viper. The figure then disappeared again, and before Trunks could redirect his attack the Prince reappeared above him with a massive boot colliding with his temple and sending him crashing into the nearest wall. A couple of hours or so after they'd reunited with their lost family and already Vegeta had dragged Trunks into training, insisting that they had little of their precious time to be wasting.

"We've got a lot of work to do before you face those Vices again boy," advised Vegeta. "You need to be stronger. Gotenks is a powerful fighter, but you need to increase by yourself in case you get separated. I'll grant that Goten is strong; he's got the blood of Kakarot in him, but he lacks the discipline required to withstand training of a higher level."

"Higher level? This isn't a higher level this is just torture!" Trunks protested. Being tossed around like a helpless child wasn't exactly his idea of fun training, but he supposed it was necessary to toughen him up. By his reckoning he supposed it would only get easier as he became accustomed to his father's moves. He was wrong.

Vegeta smirked. "No son, this is only the beginning. . . Now _dodge!"_

"What?" Trunks barely had time to question his father's meaning before Vegeta vanished, reappearing behind him moments later to drive a sweeping heel into the sides of his ribs. He recoiled in pain, believing one might be fractured or even broken with the agony that rocked him.

"Don't you think you should calm it down? He looks really hurt." Bulla and Bulma had appeared at the window bearing a small snack for them, though obviously couldn't enter thanks to the gravity being five hundred times the earth's normal intensity.

"You two don't need to get involved here; Daddy's working Bulla." said the prince. He never turned to meet their anxious stares, only kept his eyes and pleased grin fixed on Trunks, who had just begun to struggle to his feet clutching his painful side.

"I've got to agree with her Vegeta," Bulma admitted. "you'll kill him at this rate."

"I've been in this business for over fifty years you two so don't tell me how to do this job. And this is a man's work; go make me a sandwich or something." he laughed. Even Trunks wasn't sure whether or not he was joking.

"You're _such _an asshole! That is _so_ sexist!" cried Bulma, folding her arms and looking away.

Trunks could never tell whether the two of them were actually being serious when they argued or this was just another part of their twisted chemistry, or both. But they'd lived together for many years now, so he supposed it was the latter.

Bulma continued her point. "Pan handled herself in space well enough and _she's_ a girl!"

Vegeta spoke between laughs, sounding highly amused as he finally turned to face the looking glass. "Ha, oh please; Kakarot's got a feisty granddaughter but the girl can't even turn Super Saiyan, for god's sake she's as weak as Tarble – she'd be practically as useful as that 'Yaji-what's his face' in a fight against the Vi-"

The Prince's speech was cut off suddenly by Trunks appearing right before him and firing a haymaker too fast to him to evade. Vegeta took the full force of the blow, knocking him right off his feet and landing near Trunks's.

"What happened to never take your eyes off your opponent?" chided Trunks, smugly looking down on his opponent with a look of satisfaction.

"Alright! You get him Trunks!" cheered Bulla.

Vegeta only smirked as his son foolishly extended a hand to help him up, though instead of taking it he whipped around his tail in a simple trip that knocked the boy off his feet, and before he knew it the prince was on his feet and had intercepted his fall with a powerful ki attack blasting him headlong into the far wall.

"I don't know what terrible lessons you've been learning from watching Kakarot's fights, but you _never, _under _any _circumstances offer your aid to your opponent. It's arrogant!" he fired an attack to the man slumped against the wall. "Dangerous!" Trunks tried to stand as he fired another. "_And stupid!"_ Vegeta finally flared an enormous beam towards his poor son, which collided within moments, with the explosion rendering him injured, unconscious and completely out of action.

An awkward silence filled the gravity chamber as Trunks's unconscious form stopped its scorched smoking from the Prince's devastating attack. Vegeta powered down and turned back to the window, feeling a private relief that he didn't have to hurt his own son any more.

"So it's basically you all over then?" joked Bulla in response to his statement.

"Pretty much." He admitted, before swiftly adding "Except for the stupid part." Vegeta then picked up Trunks and laid him down in the air lock chamber, where Bulla and Bulma would enter to retrieve him and heal his wound in their own constructed version of the previously used rejuvenation tanks. "Alright computer," he growled as he re-entered the chamber, speaking only to the hyper-advanced supercomputer running the place. "let's take the gravity up to six hundred Gs, and if it doesn't make my body feel like a little bitch being squeezed to death by a damn python I want you to take it up to six-fifty, is that understood?"

"Affirmative Vegeta sir, gravity increase initiating." spoke the sophisticated voice in a robotic drawl.

* * *

Tien and Uub sparred at the foot of a crashing waterfall as they vowed to increase their skills thanks to the Earth's greatest fighters all disappearing. They believed they were the only warriors left to defend the planet, and had become so absorbed in their training that they didn't realise at all when the enormous ki signals reappeared. They darted across the rocks capping the cold, deep water, using their advanced super speed to keep one another on their toes. The two clashed upon a bigger boulder right at the base's centre and began a complex exchange ending in Uub receiving a massive right straight, sending him flying backwards. Instead of taking a plunge into the icy cold banks however, he instead felt himself seized and held up by his collar. He looked up, coming face to face once again with the mysterious namekian.

"Piccolo!" yelled Tien in amazement.

The namekian nodded before releasing the scruff of Uub's gi to drop him into the water. He resurfaced in an instant.

"Piccolo!" he yelled. "I thought you were dead! How are you – wait, Gohan and Vegeta and the others are back too!"

"No way!" in seeing that his partner had cast out his senses Tien mirrored him. He couldn't believe he didn't sense it up until now; the power levels of the returned saiyans was larger than ever and stood out like a beacon amongst the other inhabitants of Earth. "I guess we were too caught up in our training to even notice."

"That's good," said Piccolo. "I see you're working hard."

"But Piccolo, how come you're back?" Uub asked, beginning to dry his face with a nearby rag.

"It's a long story. But the long and short of it is that we've got a new enemy, one more powerful than any we've ever faced before." Piccolo sighed in reluctance before continuing. "You know I wouldn't ask for your help unless it was absolutely necessary, but-"

"It's alright Piccolo; you don't have to explain." Tien smiled and placed a hand on the namekian's shoulder. "If the Earth needs us we'd be honoured to defend it alongside you guys again. Right Uub?"

"You said it Tien!" exclaimed the youngest Z-Fighter.

"I had a feeling you were going to say that, but trust me when I tell you you'll be regretting it the second we leave."

* * *

Two days passed in virtually no time at all after Piccolo explained the details of his story to the two warriors he'd recruited. The group, as arranged, met back at the room after the two days, with the punctual namekian arriving first on the scene. Thanks to his precise deduction Piccolo calculated that they had another five days left in the container, just as he'd originally theorised. Tien and Uub showed up next, and as he expected the namek had to guide the two into the Room due to its strange automated cloaking mechanism. Four figures then appeared on the horizon, revealing themselves to be Gohan, Goten, Raditz, and to everyone's surprise, Pan; though it soon became apparent that she would not be joining them.

"Wooah!" she remarked, looking the room up and down with child-like puppy dog eyes the moment they landed. "This place is awesome!"

"Alright now I agreed you could have a look around and you have, now go to school, you're going to be late." Gohan instructed. He'd clearly inherited his parental compassion from his father, though his strictness and firm hand had been inspired by his training with Piccolo.

"Aww." Pan grumbled. "Can't I just come with you on this one mission? Pleeeease?"

"No Pan; I'm sorry but it's simply too dangerous, and you're just too young to be doing stuff like this."

"I did it before! Besides, Grandpa fought people when he was little - and hey wait a second, so did you! Hypocrite!"

Gohan attempted to think of a reasonable excuse when Piccolo humorously intervened.

"In his defence it was against his will: I abducted him from his family and abandoned him out in the wilderness for six months, then forced him into my training for another six."

"Those were some good times." added Gohan automatically, only exacerbating the situation.

"Indeed."

"See! It's fun! It's been so boring out here!" protested the girl.

"But – you _won _the thirty second World Martial Arts Tournament! Isn't that good enough!"

"No!" insisted Pan. "It was rubbish; there were no good fighters there since you guys disappeared and Uub was off training! It was a complete joke!"

"That may be the case but I said no Pan. Maybe when you're a little older I'll consider it, but right now I hate to say it but you're just going to get in the way!"

Pan recoiled at her father's resolve, her head lowering and her shoulders loosening up. The poor girl was forced to turn around, sobbing as her father gently reached a hand towards her. She immediately slapped it away and took off into the sky for school, and Gohan was about to make after her when his younger brother placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Let her go Gohan, it's for the best." he advised. "She'll understand eventually."

Gohan reluctantly nodded in acceptance after one of Goten's rare moments of wisdom as he watched his daughter sail off into the distance, passing two more figures on her way. It was only a few seconds later that the figures landed, revealing themselves to be Vegeta and Trunks, clearly worn out after an early morning training session. Trunks in particular had shown up wearing his incredibly tattered combat suit and looking like he was about to keel over at any minute.

The group discussed their situation, again arranging to meet back at the Room after the five days, but as they talked Raditz kept his gaze fixed on Trunks, who despite being beaten to a pulp had shown a noticeable increase in power. This was what he wanted - needed even. In the two days Raditz, Gohan and Goten had used the time to train, though with Goten present there was little to completely push him. Despite him being a super saiyan 3 Raditz hated to admit it, but he simply couldn't train to his limit with Goten there. He couldn't risk hurting his own nephew whom he'd only just met for the first time recently, and so when the group had finished their meeting he addressed the two of them.

"Gohan, Goten. Tell Chi-Chi she has my thanks for the hospitality, but I have to use this time to train alone; I'm one of the two full blooded saiyans here, so a lot is riding on me to be ready for the upcoming battles. I hope you can understand, but I really could use this time to push myself further. There's only so much I can do with five days, but right now I'm at the peak of the third level and I've a feeling that if I play my cards right I can tap into super saiyan 4 by the end of the week."

After a brief discussion between the three of them, Gohan and Goten came around to understanding Raditz's point of view, and so granted him their blessing, wishing him the best of luck in his solitary training. He turned to leave, but Gohan stopped him in his tracks.

"Here." he said, fishing out a wrist mounted gravity enhancer from his mystical uniform. "Popo gave us a spare. You need it more than we do."

The saiyan inspected the useful device before looking up to his nephews. "Thanks guys; I really appreciate it." Raditz said. The rest of the group said their temporary goodbyes and made off in different directions. Eventually the three of them parted, with Goten and Gohan returning to their dwelling in the mountains for a home-cooked meal and Raditz flying away, cringing even at the thought of the intensity of training he was about to undergo.

_This is going to be a long five days. _He figured.

* * *

_Hmm, I liked that chapter. It wasn't nearly as plot advancing and relevant as I'd hoped but at the end of the day it provided some much needed downtime as well as giving my favourite character of Vegeta a bunch of great lines. He's such a prick but we love him for it don't we? And there is the extent of Pan's obligatory and unnecessary cameo. Sue me; she is annoying and there's just no place for her. Might give her another at the end. Oh and just as a side note, the dubbed episodes of Dragonball Z Kai are amazing!  
_


	17. Chapter 17 A Glimpse Into Evil

Chapter 17: A Glimpse into Evil

At the very summit of the dark spire of the Vices, Duodecimus emerged onto the blackened roof as a shiver ran up his spine. Sometimes he hated being the only person his master would talk to, but it was this position of power that commanded him as the most powerful of the Vices, for his master was something else entirely. He looked up to the swirling black hole suspended some twenty metres above, clouding the tower in a blanket of shadow. It twisted and convulsed in a chaotic, random arrangement of flashes of bright lights, images and voices that echoed through time. Even Duodecimus didn't know the full extent of his master's power, for he had never seen the beast take on a physical form despite knowing that it had one just in case. The black hole writhed, contorting itself into an otherwise featureless face made up of simply two enormous eyes and a gaping mouth; a wide crack in the fabric of the universe. Duodecimus kneeled and averted his eyes to the floor as his master began to speak.

"_Have you found the one named Goku yet?_" it spoke in a deep, booming voice that echoed around the desolate canyon.

"N-No my Lord. My apologies." Duodecimus apologised. "But the vessel should reappear soon and we will seize control of it. Quatrus and Seni are prepared, and if they fail we will arrive to avenge their deaths. We _will _find the saiyan Goku."

"_Avenge their deaths? Come now Duodecimus, I care not whether they live or die, just bring me Goku so that I may challenge him._"

Duodecimus gulped. Under the sheer pressure of his master's strength he'd already started to sweat excessively on the roof of the spire. "My Lord, I beg a question of you." he asked. "When you defeat Goku and are freed of this plane, what will you do?"

"_I believe I mentioned it before Duodecimus; once I break free from the chains of this dimension I intend to claim my rightful position as the most powerful entity in the universe and begin a new existence. I shall wipe away every blotch of this flawed universe and reset the whole of creation, beginning a new age of the Vices."_

Now the Twelve o'clock captain smiled, realising that he'd be second in command of this new world of the Vices that his master wished to create.

"_But you seem to be doing an abysmal job so far Duodecimus; Six of my created Vices have already perished at the hands of these warriors. . . At this rate I may have to step in myself."_

"My Lord, of course not!" insisted Duodecimus suddenly, utterly terrified at the very idea of his master in a physical body. He leapt to his feet, addressing the black hole directly and slapping a fist to his enormous chest. "These men are child's play; you shouldn't even be _considering _that! They haven't even gotten near me yet, and I'm leaps and bounds ahead of their most powerful given fighter. Y-You won't even have to lift a finger my Lord!"

"_If you are proven incorrect Duodecimus, I will be very displeased."_

Once again it was Piccolo who arrived first on the scene at the Room of Spirit and Time. The five days training had passed very quickly, and now the timer in the enormous hourglass had been reduced to a mere hour or so. The wise namekian sat quietly, meditating by himself until Gohan and Goten showed up. The two of them had shown a noticeable increase in power, though there were doubts in the namekian's mind over whether it would be enough. It was alright though; by himself Gohan's Kai-like energy level had surpassed a super saiyan 4s, making him the single strongest fighter they had. Goten on the other hand could always fuse with Trunks to form an almost equally powerful warrior. The two complained a little at how they'd not seen Raditz once since he departed, though Piccolo showed a smile for this development.

Instead of succumbing to the temptation of enjoying himself while alive again and socialising with his new family, Raditz had taken immense responsibility and devoted the time to training his body and mind in the most strenuous possible way. In his rare moments of distraction from his own training Piccolo could sense from miles away the enormous pressure building from Raditz's ki. If he had done as he'd said he could and attained the super saiyan 4, then with advantage of the super kaio-ken his power could increase even further to make his strength rival Vegeta's or even Gohan's.

Tien and Uub arrived next on the scene, with Tien showing a confident smile as a front for his nervousness at the prospect competing with the saiyans. Privately the whole lot of the Z-Fighters, with even Vegeta included, held an enormous respect for the three eyed man. He'd faced unbelievable hardships and defeats in battle and always managed to carry on fighting in the aftermath, even if that aftermath involved being dead. He was not a namek, who had above average power levels and the ability to permanently fuse with one another, or the reincarnation of a fearsome Majin, or one of the battle-hungry saiyans themselves. No, Tien was simply a human with incredible determination and a natural skill for fighting; despite being outmatched by his human nature by the others, he still constantly found new ways to push his limits and ascend to higher levels of remarkable power.

Uub on the other hand felt a huge pressure weighing upon him to the do well in the fight ahead, as he'd never truly been given his time to shine. This was a great shame; since much had been riding on him thanks to being blessed with the extraordinary training of Goku himself, but in the following times of evil Goku had always been present to save the day anyway, making his presence slightly redundant.

The group talked and prepared themselves in waiting just over half an hour for Raditz to finally show his face. A new aura of content had appeared to cover him now, as he appeared much calmer, breathing deeply not out of fatigue, but in tranquil anticipation, like a waiting singer about to perform to their first crowd.

"Is everyone ready?" he asked coolly.

The others nodded in response.

"We're just waiting on Trunks and Vegeta." said Gohan.

"Well they'd better get here soon; don't we transport when that vial runs out? It's got about ten minutes left, if they don't get here soon then-"began Uub.

"Relax," Piccolo interrupted the dark skinned fighter. "the Room has a system where if you've travelled with it before, it automatically transports you back here if you're outside when the vials run out. They're probably still training."

The group watched as eventually the final grain of the giant hourglass fell into the lower chamber, and instantly the space around them shifted to a harsh white as the room began to softly spin and whir with a thousand voices.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." voiced Tien, who had just experienced a horrible feeling of dread hollow out a pit in his stomach. The group stood back as two figures materialised on the veranda, both super saiyan 3 and meeting at the centre with an exchange of fists. Trunks and Vegeta stopped and powered right away, realising that a stray blast from either of them at such a level could reduce the place to rubble in an instant.

"Where were you two?" Piccolo criticised. "You know they could be waiting for us the second we arrive so why did you choose to waste all your energy so quickly?"

"Sorry Piccolo, we lost track of time training." apologised Trunks, his lavender hair falling over his eyes as he bowed his head.

"Well for both your sakes I hope you're not the ones fighting; we don't need two burned out saiyans defending us today."

"Aren't there any senzu beans left?" perked up Uub, as he remembered visiting Korin to see if he had any, only to be told that he'd gave a bag to Trunks and Vegeta.

"We have three left." said Piccolo. "And we have to be sparing with them since there are many fights ahead of us."

Uub and Tien watched with both panic and fascination as the room's voices were often accompanied with images of their own past. Flashes of the past evil that lay dormant within the reincarnation of Majin Buu forced him to look away, though the steady fighter soon regained his composure, immune to the mind-games conjured up by the Room. A pleasant animation of a four year old Gohan sparring with the grizzled Piccolo put smiles on their faces, and a still picture of the saiyan prince blasting away a paralysed Nappa would've usually made him feel guilty, though after what they'd already seen had become of him he didn't feel in the much shame now for killing his own ally so remorselessly.

Eventually the shaking and nostalgic imagery of the room subsided, stretching out into a barren plain filled with craters and jagged indentures looking up to a black night sky. At least, the first the group saw of the sky made them presume it was night time, though in actual fact a closer look showed them that they were in the depths of space upon what appeared to be the moon. Or 'a' moon to be more accurate, as Earth was nowhere to be seen and the place was instead lit up by the light from almost a dozen planets that shone down upon the place from high in orbit. This moon also appeared to have a breathable atmosphere, as proven when Trunks recklessly took a step off the veranda and onto the rock's surface.

"Trunks!" chastised Gohan. "Let us go first, you're already worn out."

"I'm fine guys, honestly." Trunks said, though a knowing look from his stern father told him otherwise. No one could spar with Vegeta and be 'fine' by the end of it.

"Ahh relax guys, we'll be fine!" Uub chided as he and Tien joined Trunks on the planet's surface. Despite having no clear wish to throw themselves in danger, the three fighters who had stepped forwards all felt they had to prove their strength in one way or another. Uub and Tien had been absent for too long and Trunks wanted to show the others and in particular Vegeta what he was made of after a short time's rigorous training. Even if they did fail, at the end of it all they figured they'd still have Gohan, Vegeta and Gotenks to back them up if they were proven weak. They were wrong.

Before any had time to react a prison of thin red ki materialised, encasing the entire room in a square wall and the fighters trapped within, leaving only Trunks, Uub and Tien left on the outside. The group reacted with shock and both Raditz and Uub proceeded to powerfully smash on either side of the barrier, receiving only painful shocks and scorched fists thanks to their recklessness.

"Everyone! Don't touch them!" Piccolo advised after seeing the damage they'd caused to the two, particularly Raditz, who'd pretty much thrust his entire hand into the sizzling obstacle.

"Well isn't this a predicament?" called a voice from above.

The fighters turned to face the skies, not realising until now that two Vices had been hovering overhead the whole time and had no doubt been the ones to summon such a powerful barrier. The first was a well spoken, thinner looking man with a neat, blonde ponytail that allowed him to fight without it getting in the way, along with a matching goatee to make him seem older. The second, and clearly more powerful, came in the form of a roguish man of average height, with confident eyes that peered past his array of slicked black hair. For an odd reason he'd been the first Vicis they'd seen wearing clothing on his torso, which came in the form of a wacky suit that parted below the ribs to expose his tattoo. A black longsword hung by his side, a weapon the fighters supposed would be a trick up his sleeve, to draw if he found himself in a pinch.

The first fighter had the four o'clock symbol emblazoned upon his chest, whereas the second personified six o'clock. Their tattoos could be clearly seen as the Vices descended to the battlefield, even with number six's shirtless suit and folded arms obscuring the view.

"And who might you be?" asked Uub, dropping into a fighting stance.

The two landed. "I am Seni." revealed the sixth, with his confident voice accompanying his looks. "And this is Quatrus."

Quatrus merely nodded nervously, unable to come up with a cocky punch-line in time for it to be effective.

Already Trunks had heard enough. Sparring with his father had taught him to use the enemy's every moment of distraction to his advantage, and so without a second thought he took off and raced towards the two of them, only to come face to face suddenly with a blood red wall that he hit headfirst and bounced off, landing right back next to the two worrying humans.

Tien and Uub helped the young warrior to his feet, whereupon he immediately wiped the blood from his scratched face and glared at the two Vices. The content looking Quatrus raised his hand as the wall disappeared, making it clear that he was the one with that ability, and had no doubt conjured the wall imprisoning Vegeta and the others.

"My understanding is that the later hour you are, the more powerful you are." voiced Tien, stepping forwards. "And I hate to fight two on one, but it appears there are three of us and two of you."

"Two ants require little more effort to crush than one." said Seni, his words showing that he was okay with the concept; a statement Tien vowed to make him regret.

"I was hoping you'd say that." the Triclops admitted. "So how about we have it as Uub and I against you and Trunks against your friend there. Since there's two of us we should get the more difficult fight, and I'd hate to get in the way of a saiyan and his opponent." Tien then turned back to Trunks and Uub. "That okay with you two?"

The two of them nodded and took their respective stances as the taller human grinned. What he lacked in natural strength he'd make up for in cunning and skilful tactics; Trunks was probably the most powerful of the three of them, and so he had more of a chance of defeating his enemy the fastest. If that enemy was Quatrus, the foe who'd made the walls, then his defeat would allow the rest of the fighters to escape and back them up, because in his humble opinion, he didn't fancy the chances of himself and Uub in mortal combat against the number six, especially after hearing that _Vegeta_ struggled to take down number five.

"Here they come." Tien whispered, as in a flash the two Vices seemed to vanish as they made for their targets at high speeds. Both Tien and Trunks barely managed to dodge their respective attacks, using extreme movements to do so, separating the two battles from each other in the process. Tien dashed into a flight to avoid being pummelled into the ground, but the second Seni had seen his move the Vicis pursued, following Tien closely in a bid to quickly put an end to the man's life. Out of nowhere Uub hurled himself into the fight, intercepting the chasing man with a swift kick to the ribs to knock him back. He and Tien looked to one another, nodding and giving the other thumbs up.

Trunks's battle on the other hand did not get off to a one-sided start. He and Quatrus clashed as both focused warriors blitzed into a heated exchange of lighting fast punches and kicks, charging one another around the battlefield in a seemingly equal brawl. He'd mirror the tactics of the Seni and not draw his sword unless forced to, using it only as a last resort if he was required to abandon all defence.

The Z-Fighters could only watch from inside, with Piccolo surveying the nature of the wall and trying to find a potential way to get past it other than brute strength. The warriors gazed through tinted red lenses, seeing Uub, Seni and Tien clash with a few near-misses from the Vicis that could've been potentially fatal if it had connected with the fragile humans. This was a fight that once again found the blood of the two rushing wildly; the adrenaline high guiding their motor control with every dodge and attack being a potential for instant death if they executed them wrong, which made watching it as nail-bitingly tension filled as the average fight with Goku.

"Ugh! It's no use guys; this thing's solid, it's gonna take a while for us to get through. That number four may not be the most powerful but his ability is probably the most innovative we've come across." Piccolo cursed.

"Stand back I'll blast it open!" cried Goten, settling himself into a stance with both palms poised in front of him.

"Don't do that you moron! Use your head!" Vegeta grabbed the young hybrid and pulled him back. "What if your attack was reflected? You'd blow up the entire room! You idi-" but the prince's lecturing rant was suddenly cut off by him noticing something in the behind the glass-like wall of fluctuating ki. He'd seen it just for a split second, but there had been no denying it was there. Through the reddish haze Kakarot had stood there, staring him right in the eyes and waving like an idiot along with being back to his old self in the size and age department. Vegeta shoved Goten aside, strode over to the wall and peered in to get a closer look, almost burning his face on the unique ability when straining himself. Even if he had been there, Kakarot had gone now, leaving Vegeta with his face pressed up against the wall like a fool.

"What is it Vegeta?" asked Goten, confused.

"Nothing." Vegeta shrugged off the curious man, averting his eyes back to the battlefield and wincing when he saw what was happening to his son. In his absence the two had powered up, Trunks to well handled super saiyan 3 form and the Vicis to an equally impressive level. In fact the two fighters felt all but matched in terms of raw power, though that didn't stop Trunks from getting pounded.

The two fighters would clash and have at each other for a while before separating, and when Trunks dove in closer he'd always be met with a conjured wall that did immense damage upon impact and leave him wide open for a massive punch to his face. There was no way around it; once or twice Trunks tried diving at his enemy before reverting his course and attacking at a different angle, but Quatrus always seemed to manage to create a barrier just in time. Even when the two clashed for a brawl he would generate a tiny one between the two of them whenever Trunks was about to take advantage of a clear opening.

Trunks landed, watching the older man hover overhead. _I've got to keep it together, _he told himself, _I've done better than before, but if I let his attitude and those walls get to me I'll be in serious trouble before I know it. _The half blood cast a glance back to his sheathed sword that impatiently waited upon his back, lusting for battle. _No. I can't use it, not here. An all out attack would be suicide; if I get hit by one of those walls while holding this thing I could be left open for a massive blast. _

No less than a hundred metres away, Seni, Uub and Tien were continuing their fight at breakneck speeds. Uub would engage Seni with a barrage of fists so fast that he couldn't counter and the second he backed off Tien would dive in with an attack before the Vicis had a chance to reiterate. This led to much infuriation on behalf of the suited man: despite looking like a calmly collected character, he appeared to be losing his cool relatively quickly. After being bested a fifth time by a gut punch from the Triclops, Seni spared a glance towards the fight going on to his left.

"So, Quatrus has shown his true power already eh?" he mused, looking over in disgust. "What an amateur."

Almost in direct response to his words the Vicis felt an extraordinary presence materialise behind him and power up for a brief moment. He turned, coming face to face with a shockingly fast Tien.

"_Tri-Beam!_"

For such a weakling by his comparison, the attack had devastating force upon Seni, sending him hurtling back into the rising kick of the reincarnate, hitting him with such a force to knock the air straight from his lungs and ricocheting him up into the sky.

Tien's hands stayed in the triangle position as he refocused his aim, and Uub's own became cupped into a shining ball.

"_Tri-Beam!"_

"_Kamehameha!"_

The two incoming blasts hit Seni from either side, exploding upon impact and dealing what the two humans perceived to be massive damage. Smoke billowed in a bulging mushroom cloud to engulf the Vicis following the explosion, and in its wake the two fighters looked to one another and nodded, pleased with the harm their attack had done. They were not naive enough to count Seni out just yet, but if the battle carried on like this it would go in their favour, as both parties still had aces up their sleeves.

"Come on out Seni! We know you're up there!" called Uub confidently, before adding. "What happened to 'two ants are little more effort to crush than one?'"

Uub's comment sparked an amused chuckle from Tien as the smoke cleared and Seni emerged. His face and chest were burned slightly and an eye had almost been swollen shut from one of Tien's fierce haymakers. His bizarre, torso baring suit that made Goten think he looked like a male stripper had been shredded at the drapes and collar, and an annoyed look came over his usually dashing face as he fingered his hair to a parting.

"Show us your true power Seni." Uub cautioned, dropping back into the fighting stance he'd been taught to by Goku. "You can't beat the two of us like that."

Seni snarled, and with a single fluid movement tore off the ridiculous jacket to show the six o'clock tattoo in its full glory. He spat blood onto the floor, bracing himself into a power up pose, and with that he began to charge up his ki. The dials on his chest spun and twisted, with the hands on the clock face bending to impossible hours as his power level rose. Panicking, Uub and Tien mirrored the confident Vicis and begun to ascend their power to the maximum as well. The air around them distorted as such a large amount of energy was taken in by the fighters that it almost saturated the air to drain it of its essence.

"This could've gone better." said Raditz back at the Room; it took him only a moment to realise the second Seni finished his power up and emerged a being of a whole new strength, that Uub and Tien no longer stood any chance of victory.

* * *

_Oh wow another chapter so quickly? Yes, this is an excuse to use as a procrastination for revision but still, I'm vowing to finish it by the end of the summer, especially since I just really figured out what could be a beasty ending to it. You'll have to keep reading if you want to find out though, let's just say I'm pretty much done stalling with the plot and the hint of the title of the last chapter should really be a clue as to who'll be joining them next. And I also gave you that sneak preview in the introduction for tasters and well, because I realised something; when Quintus talked to Vegeta, all he ever mentioned was that the Boss wanted to fight Goku, what's wrong with that? Sure, he's a DragonBall villain so he's obviously evil and up for world domination or destruction, but for all we knew up until today he could've just wanted a friendly sparring match :S What a great conclusion that would've been xD_


	18. Chapter 18 Switch

Chapter 18: Switch

As Trunks and Quatrus collided, the lavender haired saiyan managed to summon up enough speed to bounce right back and land his first devastating punch of the day. He felt the recoil of Quatrus's jaw shake his fist as he followed through with his next hand; only to have it plunged into a painful red barrier that appeared from seemingly nowhere.

_Son of a bitch! _He cursed, figuring he should've known better than to pursue his assault further. But this was no time for regrets, in a burst of speed Quatrus had dashed to Trunks's left and came in with a powerful kick aimed at his shoulder. Trunks's forearm, seemingly made of reinforced concrete, snapped up to block the attack, though even that did some damage as he felt the strain on his bones from a kick so powerful that it would easily leave a bruise. Seeing that this was no way to fight, Trunks laid off a little, sailing backwards to get at a decent range, coming only into contact with a searing pain from one of the crimson walls that shot right up his spine. _Damn it!_

_

* * *

_

After the smoky collateral of his power-up, Seni emerged, sporting a power level close to even Gohan's. Tien figured that with their training, the only two fighters capable of defeating such a foe were Gohan and Vegeta, and since both were imprisoned within Quatrus's ability, it was up to the two of them to at least hold him off. He looked as roguish and mischievous as ever, as his body had only expanded to give him a slightly more buff look that still seemed scrawny when compared to the physique of the fighters like Goku, Vegeta and Tien himself. Nevertheless, his power had shown a dramatic increase, now being a clear match for a super saiyan four in sheer power. Tien reckoned that his own power matched a super saiyan two's, and that Uub's was surprisingly somewhere between a three and four. The reincarnated Majin had now regained all of the former power and abilities he wielded in his past life, and even more on top of that, but even the two of them combined didn't look to stand much of a chance. Fusion was off the table since almost exact power levels between the two fighters was required for it and Tien doubted that even if they did somehow pull off the dance, his twelve inches in height over his young ally meant that they would be hard pressed to get their fingers to touch symmetrically.

Speeding so fast that neither could follow, Seni launched a screaming headbutt that connected with Tien's jaw. The man only just managed to let off a Tri-Beam on instinct to take away much force of the blast, but the impact still sent him high up into the sky as Seni doubled back and disappeared again, this time materialising right next to Uub with a frothing beam forming in his hand. As much as Uub tried he simply could not escape in time; the violet blast erupted from Seni's palm like a premature grenade, hitting the youngest fighter square in the gut and to everyone's dismay, blowing a sizeable hole right through his oesophagus.

"_Uub! No!_" cried Goten, foolishly burning his hands on the wall once again. But all they could do was stand and stare as the dark skinned warrior breathed what seemed to be his final breath and a grin came over the sadistic Vicis. He then turned on the recovering Tien to blitz the fighter with a multitude of blurry punches and kicks. He ducked and dodged, managing to just somehow escape the onslaught with a few scrapes thanks to his invaluable experience and luck. As Seni dove for him again, the man realised that this time he might now be so lucky; it was time to pull an ace from the pocket. He concentrated, letting the Vicis come as close to him as possible before unleashing the move he'd used so frequently in the past, but had neglected during the more recent battles on Earth. Seni neared, eyeing in suspicion as Tien banked forwards into what appeared to be another power up position. Did he have _more _reserves? Either way, the Vicis knew he had to put an end to this as soon as possible after seeing how resourceful they'd been. They had data and fight records of every fight the current Z-Fighters had been in, though they'd neglected Tien from their studies, seeing him as a negligible threat, which was why he was so surprised when a punch came from an impossible angle.

A fist collided with Seni's precious face, apparently from above. Though Tien had been stood right in front of him with both arms by his sides, how could that have been possible? Before he got an answer the smug Vicis was annihilated from all angles by a flourish of powerful punches and kicks, with fists coming from all sides and confusing him as he was beaten so suddenly. He caught one arm in an attempt to throw the fighter, but then three more came in and smashed hooks into his face to make him let go. Finally he stopped following the countless swift hands and averted his eyes to the monstrous man stood in front of him, who took his moment of shock to slam every fist into the Vicis, sending him careering down to form a small crater.

He'd only seen it for a second, but there had been no mistaking it; Seni pushed his way out of the rubble and stared up to the man hovering some hundred metres above him, shadowed by two of the unknown planets glowing in the sky behind him. Sure enough, his eyes had not been deceiving him; Tien had sprouted an extra pair of arms from the back of his shoulders to bombard the Vicis with a burst of his intensely fast punches. It took one look to see that the move had fatigued the mortal man, but nevertheless an extra pair of limbs made Tien a hell of a lot more dangerous, allowing him to just about keep up in close range combat with enemies far more powerful than him, including Seni himself. Seni snarled as Tien grinned rather smugly, as though something interesting had caught his attention, but Seni would have none of it. He cared only for destroying this bastard who'd done such a number on him in such a short amount of time. Both of them knew that kind of surprise attack only worked once, and both knew that the short range ability would only be effective up close and personal. He lifted a single arm, cackling into it the same energy that had finished Uub at point blank range; he figured with how weak Tien was compared to his counterpart, a distance in a number of metres would still be enough to finish off the human in one shot.

The purple beam fired, making straight for the weaker fighter, though for an odd reason Tien smiled. Just what did he have up his sleeve? As the blast neared him Seni found out firsthand, as a thinner beam collided with his own from an odd direction, turning the entire attack into a stream of tiny, circular, rolling candy balls. He turned around right into the flying punch of a recovered Uub, who again took the most of his surprise attack with a storm of kicks and a wild kamehameha to cap it all off. As mentioned, since fusing with the fat Majin Buu, Uub had recovered all his former power and abilities, including that of regeneration. It was not as efficient and useful as his counterpart's thanks to not having a body made up of bubblegum, but it came in particularly handy when someone had already counted him out and turned their back in ignorance.

Uub and Tien rejoined forces in the air of space above the moon's ground as they waited for their opponent to resurface. The two were dealing respectable damage, but they knew as well as any that they were only stalling for time and thriving from shock tactics like the candy beam and the four witches technique. They prayed silently that Trunks would hurry up and finish Quatrus before it was too late.

* * *

The group had no such luck, as the more powerful fighters were forced to sit back and watch as Trunks was bested at every turn by the strategic Vicis, being deteriorated every time he painfully bounded off those impenetrable walls.

"This is ridiculous!" growled Gohan in frustration. "Trunks needs a senzu bean; so I'm gonna try and punch a hole in this wall. It only needs to be a small one and it'll probably close up within seconds, but I've gotta try!"

"Gohan, we have to ration our senzu beans, we've only got three left!" Piccolo warned.

"And Trunks will die if he doesn't get one!" Gohan protested. "I'm going to try and help him and make a gap in the wall, now if anyone wants to stop me just try it!" The saiyan meant every word; within seconds he'd powered up to the maximum strength bestowed to him by the kais and stepped towards the wall, knowing that what he was about to do would cause some serious pain. It was just as he was about to make his move that he felt a hand on his shoulder, and so he whirled round to face a powered up Vegeta.

"Alright you've made your point." said Vegeta. "I'll help you out, but I doubt this'll be pretty for either of us."

Gohan nodded, knowing that behind his tough exterior the prince couldn't bear to see his son losing so badly, and would do anything to put an end to this. He'd prefer to see his son fight his own battles with a little more dignity than relying on a senzu bean, but it was either that or losing him forever.

"This is such bull! If Trunks and I could fuse we'd take that guy apart in a heartbeat!" cursed Goten.

"Well you can't," said Piccolo "and there's no sense moaning about it now."

As Goten made a sulking expression at the stern namekian Gohan and Vegeta readied themselves, and on Gohan's cue they launched opposing fists into the same spot at the centre of the ki wall. The barrier rippled and frothed with chaotic energy that surged their entire forearms with a high voltage shock, but still they persevered, pushing further and further in with the full extent of their power. They pushed off their feet firmly and poured more ki into their quaking hands to make only make the wall cackle and hiss louder, but still they pushed forwards, and just as the pain became unbearable their hard work paid off. A small hole formed in the wall about the size of their combined fists, and so frantically the two ushered to the namek, who surprisingly handed over one of the valuable beans.

"You're the best Piccolo." panted Gohan, before turning to the already closing gap. "Trunks! Senzu bean!"

Trunks wearily turned to the sound of Gohan's voice and the incoming senzu bean he'd thrown. In his dazed state he barely managed to catch the precious object, but the second he popped it into his mouth he began to feel better already, with a much clearer head than he'd had even before this battle had begun, as training with Vegeta beforehand had taken its toll on him.

As the gap began to close even faster, Trunks smiled as his father's hand remained outside the barrier, aiming his palm for a final moment before yelling something incomprehensible and firing an enormous blast up to Quatrus with every ounce of his remaining strength. Vegeta's hand retreated before more the wall closed completely, and his bright yellow beam chased down Quatrus to knock him right out of the sky and into a nearby crater.

Despite not being able to completely see who stood within the Room thanks to the crimson prison surrounding it, Trunks still looked down and grinned towards the spot where the blast had come from, hoping his father could see how appreciative he was before turning back to the smoking tomb of his foe. Quatrus would emerge any second, and the generous bean would be all for nothing if he didn't come up with an idea fast. Now that he had recovered he had a clearer head than before, something he'd have to use if he wanted to stay alive. His racing mind wandered to the countless previous fights his friends and family had endured and pulled through miraculously, though many had been from special utilising techniques, none of which he had any in reserve for save for with his sword, which he'd already established as a no-go area for this kind of fight. Other fights his friends had survived had been due to pushing their limits beyond what they were usually capable of or a new transformation, and he quickly brushed that idea aside until an idea sprang into his head.

It was a long shot, something he doubted his body could handle, but then again he _had _been training ridiculously lately, maybe he stood a chance; whether he did or not, it would be the only way he'd escape here alive. Trunks's mind wandered to Goku's fight against the Tuffle possessed version of his father. There was no moon available since it had been destroyed before he was born, but the planet Earth that the Tuffle planet orbited served as a substitute, emitting the right amount of blutzwaves to allow him to transform. He looked up, grinning in satisfaction as he counted the sheer amount of glowing planets that encompassed this moon the Vices had brought them to. If Goku needed only one to transform with a tail, then surely thirteen in the sky would be more than enough to satisfy his own without one. It was in realising this that Trunks's eyes stayed fixed on a patch of space, in clear view of seven massive planets without straining.

Quatrus emerged, but was instantly stricken with a horrified look when he realised what he'd done. Trunks's unblinking gaze on the sky, his static freezing of the muscles and the beating of his heart that pounded on his chest like a steady drum; it could mean only one thing. Trunks's body expanded and golden fur began to coat his exterior, tearing off his clothes, growing a bushy tail and filling out to start the transformation of a golden great ape.

Back at the room the Z-fighters gasped in shock; Trunks had obtained the great ape form so quickly, though all the form embodied was destruction and outrage.

"Oh no you don't!" cried Quatrus, hurling a ki sphere that proved to be completely ineffectual.

Trunks felt his mind slipping away as it pushed him to embrace the instincts of the primal ape. He grew larger, but still desperately held onto his last grasp of consciousness; that human side of him that he was determined would never die. Every fibre of him expanded along with a feral rage overtaking him, but he fought back. He'd done this before as Gotenks, and he'd seen the transformation occur twice. All he needed to do was hold onto his memories and fill his mind with those he loved, reminding himself just who he was fighting for.

* * *

Tien doubled back away from his assault, knowing that Seni would be right behind him, even more furious than before after he and Uub had landed another underhand combo. He'd kept the Vicis down with his signature Tri-Beam for as long as his body would allow as Uub bombarded him with shots, but now Seni had escaped, and was seconds away from catching him. Tien had one trick left; he just hoped Uub was looking away. He turned, crossing his all four hands across his face in a dramatic fashion.

"_Solar Flare!"_

Luckily Uub was too far away to get caught in the flash, as so Tien rejoined him as Seni was left writhing in pain after having taken the full blast of light at close range.

"That should buy us a few minutes." said Tien, landing next to his partner.

"Uhuh. ." Uub trailed off, pointing a finger towards their neighbouring fight. Trunks had begun to ascend into a golden great ape, but before he'd even halfway completed the transformation he'd frozen in static as the internal battle raged on inside him.

* * *

_No! _He thought. _I can do this! I just have to stay in control and not lose focus. I might not be ready yet, but if I fail at this then mom, dad, Bulla and Goten and the others could be gone. The only one I've beaten by myself so far was the weakest one; I know I can do better than that, even if it's just a few places higher I know I can push myself further. This is what father was training me for, so that I'd be prepared when this day came. Well it arrived sooner than expected, and if I don't come through then all his training will be for nothing. I can't afford to lose! I WON'T lose!_

With that struggle Trunks felt his conscious side begin to take over as he opened his eyes, realising that he was shrinking in a shrouding golden mist. Satisfied, he descended into a muscular humanoid clad only in simple grey pants and boots. A trait of all super saiyan four levels so far was that they all had different coloured eyes; Goku's were yellow and cat-like, Vegeta's were a shade of aquamarine, Gotenks's were a harsh blue, and Trunks was no exception to this rule as he opened his own. Deep purple eyes peered out at his foe to match his violet fur and lavender hair that now descended down to his shoulder level, reminding the onlookers of the mirage of his future counterpart they'd seen years ago. A bulky chest made up of two enormous pectoral muscles were the only part of his bare torso not covered in the familiar fur, and a final cosmetic difference was the addition of his gently swishing tail.

"What!" yelled Seni in disbelief, having regained his sight. "The brat transformed! That shouldn't have been possible! You idiot! Why did you take us to this moon in the first place!"

Quatrus, annoyed at his own idiocy, replied with a growl to start him off. "I wanted somewhere out of the way!" he excused.

"So you took us to the place with as many blutzwaves as you can get! You're supposed to be the scientist! Didn't you know it makes them transform! You idiot!"

"I didn't think any of them would be ready to take them in and survive okay! And I'll show you how much of an idiot I am!" with that pathetic cry Quatrus hurled himself at the ascended saiyan, fist first in a sloppy attack. No matter how poor the punch was Quatrus still didn't expect what happened. Trunks caught the fist of the speeding Vicis with ease, with the impact being apparently nothing to him, as he didn't move a muscle, only held the inferior fighter steadily. Quatrus looked up into those angered, violet eyes and a bead of sweat rolled off his forehead. Trunks span round, delivering an enormous elbow to his spine before flinging him down to the ground below like a broken doll.

Seni snarled in anger, fixing Trunks with a look of hatred as the saiyan slowly looked up to his new opponent.

"Uub, Tien." said Trunks, addressing his comrades without ever taking his eyes off the six o'clock Vicis. "I'll take him from here. Think you can handle old Quatrus down there and set our friends free?"

The two fighters nodded, descending to the ground level of the deserted moon and quickly getting away from the hyped up saiyan warrior. Nothing could stop him now; Trunks was a machine, determined to prove his worth and show off his new strength by defeating a powerful foe single-handedly. Septimus had only been a single level above the Vicis he now faced, and that guy had taken both he and Goten fused along with the help of Vegeta to defeat. But he still remained confident he could defeat this scumbag, even with his only newfound super saiyan strength.

Seni snarled. "Fool! I decide who fights and who doesn't!" with that the Vicis launched a furious beam down towards Tien, though in a burst of speed Trunks had come between it, deflecting the attack with a full swing of his sword. He'd been so fast that Seni hadn't even seen him move, let alone draw the weapon.

"Go for it you two. I'm counting on you." Trunks instructed, again never averting his gaze from Seni; Vegeta had taught him well.

"Right!" said a determined Uub as the two of them landed, making room in the sky for the heated battle that was about to begin.

Seni scowled with immense frustration after the younger fighter had undercut his authority and ruined his cool with a few words. Then he noticed the weapon that Trunks held as a smile came to his lips. "A sword eh?" he mused, drawing his own: a cruel black sabre that glimmered with mirror polish. "What a coincidence."

"I was thinking the same thing myself." said Trunks coolly. His voice had lowered to a raspy drawl and his expression one of satisfied content as a cover for the intense excitement, with a look of confidence about him that came naturally with these kinds of transformations.

Tien and Uub landed, sweeping across the ground and getting as far away from the overhead clash as possible. The two warriors went at one another swords in hands, exchanging a deathly trade of combinations and single swings at one another. They daren't look; this wasn't a fistfight, if someone got sloppy they wouldn't just receive a punch to the face – careless attacks could end land the fighter a dismemberment or a decapitation. As Quatrus re-emerged from the smoking rubble he observed the two fighters coming his way, and he began to reinitiate his strategy with a smirk.

Trunks weaved away from a three slash combination and retaliated with his own, using the entirety of his pumped up biceps to rain down powerful attacks on the guard of his enemy. Seni blocked at every move, clearly being just as experienced, if not more so with a blade than Trunks himself was, but that wouldn't stop the saiyan. The two became locked in a seemingly equal fray, darting between one another's lightning fast attacks and countering with their own. So far so good; he'd kept the super saiyan 4 form under control without his inexperienced body giving out from the strain, kept level-headed under the pressure, matched every move his opponent made and most importantly, began to infuriate the six o'clock Vicis.

No one had ever rivalled Seni with a sword, and now this twenty eight year old half blood brat was doing it after a spontaneous transformation. It got to him, and Trunks could see that, so he decided to make use of his enemy's weakness. The two collided in a flourish of their swords and with a free hand both let off an equal ki attack the second they had the chance, making the two blasts collide and thrusting them back another twenty metres away from one another. Trunks steadied his flight and dropped back into a stance, waiting for the enemy to come to him. He never did, and so this was his chance.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Trunks chimed in a rather pleasant voice, as if he was doing his best Goku impression.

Seni said nothing in reply, so the man took his silence as a yes.

"Your name's not really Seni is it?"

Seni looked shocked and confused, taken aback by the boy's insinuation. "What? What do you mean, of course it is!"

"I don't believe you; it can't be. The people we've faced so far are Primus, Secundus, Tertius, Quatrus, Quintus, Septimus and Octavius." listed Trunks.

"And your point is?"

"Well, they all end in –us, yours don't." he said simply.

"It's just a name – it doesn't matter what the others are called!" insisted Seni.

"I think you're lying." Trunks spoke rather cheerily, as if trying to do his best Goku impression.

"Well I'm not."

"Aw don't be like that. It's courteous to tell your opponent your real name."

"Argh! I – Fine!" Seni stammered. "It was changed to Seni because Duodecimus stated that 'Sextus' wasn't threatening enough."

After staring blankly at his target for a few moments, Trunks suddenly exploded into a burst of unrelenting laughter as his opponent slowly got more and more embarrassed.

"I-hey it's not funny!" he insisted. But Trunks only laughed harder, going into fits of giggles like an amused schoolgirl. Seni wondered how he had the audacity to do such a things in the middle of a battle; how could anyone be so cocky and stupid. Nevertheless, the nonstop chuckling infuriated him beyond belief. "_I said stop laughing!" _he screamed. Seni made for Trunks in a flying aerial assault with his sword leading. He never noticed throughout the whole ordeal that while laughing Trunks had never lowered his weapon or even dropped his guard, a mistake he'd just made in the blind attack of rage. He realised all too late that he'd been deceived when Trunks's manic laughing suddenly turned back to a confident smile and he disappeared in a burst of speed.

"You're open!" cried Trunks as he suddenly appeared to Seni's left. Before the Vicis could act Trunks had swept past him and carved a bloody slash into his flesh, trailing from the small of his back right around to his hip. He lashed out with the black sabre and screamed in pain, though attack was easily dodged thanks to being completely misguided. His attention was now focussed on his throbbing wound, which he clutched with one hand, whimpering in pain as Trunks once again appeared across from him, still bearing that confident smirk.

"_You!" _he cried, pointing his sword towards the man. "You tricked me!"

"If you're stupid enough to fall for a trick over something so trivial you should be prepared to pay the price." Trunks smartly replied. The dumb inquisition and fits of laughter had all been an act to give him this advantage in the fight; he'd merely spotted an inconsistency and pointed it out, much to Seni's infuriation.

"I'll make you see why I'm sixth in the rank of the Vices, _boy! _I'll make you regret the day you were ever born! Bladed Thunder!"

Unlike the other Vices they'd come across, Seni actually had a name for his signature attack, and it deserved one. A stream of black lightning suddenly came over his sword and fired out at high speeds in an unpredictable bolt of electricity towards Trunks. He held up his own sword to block the move, but the thing merely acted as a massive lightning rod to conduct half of the blast and give him a concentrated jolt to glaze his arms with pain. No sooner had he come to grips with the attack did Seni suddenly fire off another three in his direction, and so the ascended super saiyan was forced to soar further upwards to evade the attacks and flip around like a gymnast as he did so.

_He's been saving that one_, Trunks worked out, _well it's okay; I've got a few techniques of my own too._ The saiyan doubled back and stared down through the cloudless atmosphere towards a fast approaching Seni. In the visions of the past the Room had shown him, he'd seen a key glimpse of a strange move his future counterpart had utilised, and through training he'd learned to make it an even more powerful attack, putting his own variation on it.

"Burning Sword!" he cried suddenly, channelling the 'burning attack' right down the shaft of his blade to expel an intense arc of flame that rained down upon Seni. He barely managed to avoid the attack, but little did he know that with a second gesture Trunks had fired a second, which engulfed him in a white-hot blaze and singed his arm where he'd instinctively thrown it up.

* * *

As Quatrus finally managed to retreat away from the close range pummelling of a high powered Uub and a four armed Tien, he considered his options, merely settling for the easiest tactic yet again. _Two should be just as easy to hold off as one_. He reasoned, and so with that Uub and Tien made for him, rushing the Vicis at either side. He crossed his hands and expelled the signature red ki to cause Tien and Uub to slam headlong into the walls. This repeated several times as the two fighters attempted various different angles to try and thwart the Vicis, but it was always to no avail; no matter where and how they struck the walls always appeared to bounce them away like pinball bumpers. Eventually the two regrouped to think up of a new strategy. They'd tried everything; all of their techniques had proven to be ineffectual against the barriers, though in pondering over his abilities Uub realised that he'd missed out one rather simple idea.

"Tien, let's rush him together!" he suggested.

"What? Together? But then he'll just-" started Tien.

"It's alright, just do it I have a plan!"

Tien shrugged and took his place beside his partner before the two of them suddenly shot up towards the Vicis, homing side by side like parallel bullets and leaving behind a stream of distorted air in their wake.

"Attacking me at the same time! I'll just get you both with the same move!" As they raced closer Quatrus again manipulated the ki within him to conjure up another wall right down their flight path. They were going much too fast to dodge it effectively now, and even if they did he'd just make another right away. What he didn't expect however, was that Tien and Uub never changed course, only carried on towards the wall in a seemingly stupid tactic.

"Ha!" laughed Quatrus. "You'll only hasten your death! You know those walls are unbreakable!"

Tien gave Uub a concerned look of anxiety as they came within range of the walls; in less than a moment they'd be splattered bait unless Uub did something. But the Majin pulled through. The two came within mere metres when Uub's hand suddenly snapped up and he flared a small purple beam at the wall, stilling its ki signal and turning the whole thing into a massive block of milk chocolate. They didn't slow down and only crashed right through the now harmless barrier, presenting them with a fine look of Quatrus's horrified expression as the two closed in with six fists aimed right for his exposed jaw.

* * *

Trunks and Seni continued their epic battle overhead, materialising at frenzied clashes of their opposing coloured swords before dissipating and re-engaging one another somewhere completely different. Trunks appeared, leading the attack with a combination of five opposing slashes, which Seni leaned away from. From the moment the battle begun it was clear that Seni was the more powerful fighter, though Trunks's resolve coupled with his extensive practice evened the whole thing out, and it showed; the fifth slash was only barely evaded by Seni. He banked as it sailed past him, though it passed right before his face and cut off a sizable lock of his groomed black hair. He growled and lashed out with his own curved sword to put a minor scrape upon Trunks's chest. The two disappeared, again reappearing with an exchange of swipes. After a while the two separated and dropped to the lunar ground level.

"_Bladed Thunder!"_

"_Burning Sword!"_

Both attacks collided with an equal amount of pressure, leading into a chaotic explosion of flaming electricity dazzling the landscape.

"Trunks!" cried Gohan and Goten in unison, as the group were suddenly freed from the barriers encasing the Room, meaning that Quatrus was either dead or at a level where he was unable to sustain them any longer. A smug looking Tien and Uub touched down next to the group, looking pleased with themselves despite being worn out from the fight. Gohan and Goten looked as though they were about to join in the fight, though Vegeta stopped them.

"Don't get in his way." he warned. "The boy needs to finish this on his own; if he's defeated _I_ will step in." Vegeta wanted his son to finish this fight with the honour and dignity one should have when fighting someone in single combat, especially the heir to the throne an endangered, rare species like the saiyans. If they wanted, the eight of them could swarm around Seni and finish him in an instant, but that wasn't the way things were done; you never learn to do something properly unless you do it yourself. Trunks knew that, so he'd never even consider letting them join in; he was in the zone right now.

After another hectic clash of jumping, flipping sword manoeuvres, the two separated again for the last time, both panting in fatigue and barely able to stand up straight.

"You're pretty good." Trunks gasped. "But I can't let you go any further!"

"This is meaningless." Seni stood, readying his blade. "Neither of us has the strength to continue fighting: you're too inexperienced with that form and I'm at my limit. So here's what's going to happen: I'm going to pour every ounce of power into this final attack, and I can't help but presume you've been saving a technique of your own, so I hope you will do me the honour of showing it to me right now."

"Mhm." Trunks nodded, and mirrored his opponent in a staredown.

Seni's blade jolted with that now familiar electricity of the Bladed Thunder attack, though this time it was far more potent. It seemed as though Seni was struggling to keep the sword under control with the amount of power he was pouring into it, as the blade quivered and he gripped it tightly to stop it from shaking further. Trunks also poured an equal amout of his ki into the edge of his sword, though this was in a more peaceful, almost unnoticeable way. Essence was sucked into both blades and immense craters other than the ones already present crashed beneath them, buckling under the pressure.

The energy seemed to have gone straight to Seni's head, as he now laughed with a manic sounding shriek as black lightning cackled around him. "You'll never survive this one! Its destructive force has the power to even destroy some of my superiors if it makes a direct hit!"

Trunks only smiled and poured more and more energy into his sword, which now hummed with the impatient drone of a generator starting up.

"Now die saiyan! _Super Bladed Thunder!"_

Trunks raised his sword just as the ultimate attack of black lightning erupted from the tip of Seni's sword and careered before him down an unpredictable, convulsing path that cracked and hurled up the ground beneath it. The Vicis took a few steps back in recoil before tiredly looking up to see his attack headed straight for the lavender haired warrior. Though to his surprise, Trunks did not launch an attack; he traced a circle in the air before him with the tip of his sword, leaving behind white lines to from a perfect globe with the Super Bladed Thunder nearing. He smiled again as the attack closed in before thrusting his sword into the open circle and filling it with the stored up ki to expand it into a brilliant white dome of transparent light, encasing him in a holy half-sphere of unknown properties.

"_Echo Force!_" Trunks cried out the name of his technique just as the gargantuan mass of jet black lightning smashed into it, reflecting it along a different path right towards its already worn out master, who was overwhelmed by his own devastating move and fried in the electrical storm. Just like that, the battle was over. From the intense amount of concentration required for the Echo Force, Trunks suddenly disengaged it and collapsed to the floor, where the others rushed towards him. He was powered down to his most basic state, unconscious and breathing raspy, laborious gasps. But he was alive, and would live to fight again.

"He's alright." said Vegeta, picking up his unconscious son and looking down proudly as the others gathered around. "The boy just needs rest for now, so be sure he gets it, because when he's back to full strength he'll have my training at the super saiyan four level to deal with."

* * *

_An ACTUAL swordfight in Dragonball huh? All that's left now is for Trunks to shout 'BANKAI!'. So yeah, that was actually the longest chapter in the series so far thanks to there being two fights going on at once, sorry if it dragged a bit. And I know many people haven't seen the original DragonBall so I should explain that the technique Tien uses is the 'Four Witches' technique where he actually grows another pair of arms. I'm completely baffled as to why he didn't use it any time in Z, especially when Nappa you know, actually PUNCHED off one of his arms :S Oh well. Expect more chapters soon since my summer holiday has officially just begun! :D P.S. Trunks rocks._


	19. Chapter 19 Four to Go

Chapter 19: Four to Go

As Vegeta emerged from the Room's main building he and the other fighters sensed a presence on the horizon. They'd expected that more would come, but this seemed too soon, as if they'd been _waiting _for them to finish Quatrus and Seni. He scanned their power levels along with the others, not liking the readings he picked up. They were the four remaining Vices that made up the night time of the clock symbolism and each of them had a power far greater than any they'd faced before; he doubted even he, Gohan or Gotenks would be a match for the weakest, something that the others sensed too.

"I guess there's no way that thing's going to run out by the time they get here." Said Gohan, looking over to the moderately full hourglass.

"Bring it on! I'm sure I can take at least one of them. I'm ready to fight!" Raditz stepped forwards and stretched his arms with anticipation.

"No Raditz." Gohan advised as he put a hand over his uncle's chest. "We're no match for them at this level; we'll die if we stay here. We've got no Gotenks, Tien and Uub are exhausted and Vegeta and I used most of our energy breaking through that thing."

Now Uub and Goten looked scared. The four power signals homed in fast and soon their figures could be seen over the curvature of this small moon.

"What do you suggest we do?" asked Tien.

"We knock out that last hourglass." Gohan proposed.

Most of the group nodded in acknowledgement of his idea. Raditz still seemed itching for a battle, and Piccolo had some advice.

"It seems risky Gohan," he said, "if we destroy that we'll have no way of knowing when the next shifts will happen, not to mention we have no idea whether it will work; the last time could've just been a fluke."

"Well whatever you're gonna do, do it fast!" Goten suddenly powered up into the first stage of the super saiyan in preparation for what would be the first attack of the final four.

Gohan and Piccolo looked at each other with stares that did all their debating for them. Piccolo wanted to be conservative and perhaps try these guys on before shattering their final hourglass, though Gohan figured it would be suicide to even attempt it. It was in the group's tension filled moment that the sound of shattering glass suddenly sounded like a broken mirror smashing to the ground. They turned to see Vegeta's booted foot lower itself from a high kick position over the grave of what had been their final hourglass.

"Oops." He remarked mockingly, as the whole room around him suddenly was bathed in a glorious angelic light and began to slowly rotate like a malfunctioning rollercoaster.

By now the group knew the drill; they dived into the safe confines of the main buildings to stop them from tumbling around and potentially ending up in the jaws of the naked, chaotic void. Once again it was a hectic ride, with some Z-Fighters clinging to each other and Trunks's sleeping form flying out of the bedroom and whacking his head upon a table to fall unconscious once again.

* * *

For a second time the Vices swooped in on the room only to find that it had vanished from its unpredictable nature. They'd been so close; this shouldn't have happened. They should've had time left, as by Novus's reckoning the room should've stayed grounded for at least another twenty four hours. Duodecimus snarled as the group landed, looking at his subordinate who bowed apologetically.

"What happened to a full day Novus? The Master won't be pleased." He spat.

"My apologies Duodecimus sir." Novus was a broad figure constantly encased in a dull, grey, high tech battle armour suit that the master had bestowed as a gift in creation. The Vices' head was topped off with a visor equipped helmet, shielding the face so that skin was only ever visible at the neckline. Novus continued, in a mechanised, distorted tone bestowed by the suit "They have some way of quickly escaping by disjointing themselves from the vessel's regular course. But I do not think they have another way. We will get them next time for sure."

"For your sake, I hope you're right." Warned Duodecimus. He seemed as though he was about to reinforce his threat when a whimpering cry sounded from behind him. Decimus and Unidecimus both turned to the sound, and an evil smirk spread across Duo's lips before following them. He lifted his arm, telekinetically moving a five tonne hunk of space rock and revealing the tomb of a half dead Quatrus.

"Now, now, now. What have we here?" Duodecimus mocked. The other two double digits laughed as the commander dropped ten feet down into the chasm and approached the wounded Vicis.

"Quatrus!" Novus dropped into the pit and raced towards the lower ranking man. The number nine crouched and cradled Quatrus's head, with him being blissfully unaware of the pitying look Novus harboured thanks to the concealing visor.

"Out of the way." Ordered Duodecimus coolly, not even waiting for an answer before slamming a fist into the Vices' head to send poor Novus crashing into the walls of the cavernous crater.

"Captain!" protested Decimus.

Duodecimus paid no attention to the cries of his subordinates and stood over Quatrus. The man was bloodied and his body twisted and broken in several places. His face was a train wreck; a collage of red leaking out from at least six different places and flowing down his cheeks to form a pool of blood amassing on his neck. It was clear to all watching that Quatrus's fighting days were over, though this didn't call for Duodecimus's lack of compassion. A single hand extended up to the captain, quivering with the pain simply lifting it exerted on him.

"M-Mercy. . ." he croaked.

Duodecimus sneered "I have no use for a paralysed Vicis. I told you what would happen should you fail me."

Quatrus gave one last look of intense fear before his face met his captain's boot in a vicious curb stomp, crushing his skull into the ground and ending his life within a second with a gruesome splatter on the rocks. Decimus and Unidecimus both looked shocked at his master's actions, but then again they'd made sense; what could they have done with a crippled fighter?

"Quatrus!" cried that eerie, robotic tone as Novus leapt out of the wall, only to be met by Duodecimus's hand grabbing the exposed throat and forcing the Vicis back into the sides.

"Enough!" he barked, showing his authority. "He's _your _underling; it's _your _fault he failed. Do you want to add to your faults by blubbering over his corpse! What an unseemly thing for a Vicis to do."

Novus hesitated. None could ever really tell what was going on behind the mask, but Duodecimus suspected that number nine was silently struggling for an answer. "No sir." Novus eventually settled on, but the reluctance was evident even through that robotic distorter.

"Good." Duodecimus released his grip and slowly hovered up to the crater's centre where he floated on the same level as number ten and eleven.

They were intimidated by his sudden display of power, though would never question his orders, knowing that they came straight from the higher deity, and he wouldn't hesitate to threaten them with the same strength.

"You." He pointed to Decimus, then jerked his thumb to the slouched Novus "Take him and wait for them to re-emerge, the two of you should be more than a match for the lot of them."

"Yes sir!" cried Decimus.

"And make sure you leave a few of them alive; if Goku won't come out of hiding by his own accord. . . Then we'll have to just torture a few of his friends until he has no other choice but to show his face."

* * *

Vegeta stepped out onto the new planet, this time being the first to awaken after the chaos of the room's shifts. Instinctively he looked to the hourglasses to see how much time they had left, only to remember that he'd destroyed the last one, so telling how long they had left would be impossible. This would make training difficult. It was out of character for him to run away from a fight, but his logic was undeniable; if they'd stayed they'd be killed for sure, this way they were only postponing the fights. The planet they'd landed on was an intelligence-free world, filled as far as the eye could see with lush grass of an eerie golden shade housing a wide variety of insects that he'd never seen before. In his youth; the first twenty five years of his life, Vegeta had visited many planets in his servitude to Frieza, but never had he seen anywhere like this. Vegeta figured that this must've been on the other side of the universe to where he'd grown up; a place out of East Kai's jurisdiction that would take decades to reach by natural means. He supposed the whole planet was filled with these golden, rolling plains, having only just begun its life cycle: good. This, along with its considerable size would make for a great training ground with no interruptions. They'd try to reduce the collateral damage of their training to a minimum to avoid harming this fragile new world, but the sacrifice of a few miles of land would be a necessary price to pay for their training.

One by one the others joined him outside, though Trunks was obviously still resting.

"Whoa, this place is beautiful." Remarked Gohan, stepping out onto the surface. "I really hope we can spend a while here, I wonder how long we have." A few moments passed before the saiyan suddenly dropped to one knee and painfully placed a hand to the floor to compose himself.

"What is it!"

"Are you alright!" came the voices of Uub and Goten.

Gohan staggered back up to his feet and straightened up. He brushed the dust from his tunic, stretching his arms and loosening up his joints. "Yeah, just watch your step; the gravity here is something else. By my reckoning I'd say it was about two hundred times that of earth."

Intrigued by this new development, the other Z-Fighters stepped off the platform and onto the grass to experience the high gravity firsthand. After a few moments they were able to stand, but it was apparent to all that the different warriors had different levels of tolerance to it. Gohan, Vegeta and Raditz all stood firm after the first moment of transition, but the subtle hints like slightly faster breathing and hunching over a little made it clear that fighters like Piccolo and Tien would find it difficult out here.

"In answer to your question Gohan, we can't be sure of how long we'll be spending here, but as we've already seen, the Room seems to be spending more time in the same location more often now, so let's pray it does the same here." Said Piccolo.

The others nodded in agreement.

"Well I'm going to get started." Vegeta launched up and hovered ten feet in the air, looking down on the other fighters as his bluish aura flared around him. "Trunks is recovering so I'll train by myself today. If we're still here tomorrow he can spend it with you Goten; you two need to practice fusion, but after that he'll be back with me."

"Fair enough." Said Piccolo "But everyone, make sure that you power down as soon as you feel yourself being transported. With us not knowing how much time we have left, odds are we'll be out there when it changes. The last thing we want is someone materialising in the room halfway through firing a blast."

Once again the fighters agreed, and with that Vegeta took off to the other side of this enormous planet to train in solitude. Uub and Tien took off soon after, followed by Piccolo, who would also train alone as usual.

Goten began to set off, stopping only a few metres off ground to turn to his brother. "Gohan! You coming?"

Gohan shouted up. "I'll be with you in a minute!"

With that Goten took off, leaving only Gohan and Raditz alone on the plain to enjoy the silence. Raditz had closed his eyes and had begun to breathe deeply, taking in the air and building up a calm attitude as part of his preparation to battle.

Gohan looked towards his uncle, who even under this high gravity didn't break a sweat or looked fatigued at all. _Just how strong is Raditz these days? We often overlook him since he's not a regular, but in truth he might be able to go toe to toe with the best of us. None of us have ever really seen him at his limit since the only fight he's had so far was with Tertius, who he disposed of pretty easily. Since then I know he's gotten stronger, but how much stronger exactly? I hate to admit it, but at times his whole mysteriousness really reminds me of Dad._

"Good luck with training Raditz." Said Gohan rather suddenly. He extended a hand towards his uncle, which he accepted graciously and nodded.

"You too."

With a look of determination, Gohan took off to leave Raditz by himself. He'd take his own leave in a while, but just for a few minutes he liked to prepare himself. He glanced around the environment, sharpening his vision by trying to pick out individual details. In was in this that he caught a glimpse of orange among the gold in the corner of his eye. As his heart skipped a beat Raditz turned to it, looking only for a second upon a man who had surely been his brother. Goku had stood in his trademark gi waving his hand in a greeting, but as soon as he'd focussed his gaze he'd vanished, as though he'd never been there at all.

"No-wait!" Raditz feebly grabbed at thin air, but by then the mirage had been long gone. _Was that really Kakarot? _He pondered. _Am I losing it? No. . . Gohan and Chi-Chi claimed to have seen him too. This could be a sign_; _I think that he really could be returning to us soon, but I hope it's sooner rather than later. . Kakarot. . . Hurry. We need you in this fight._

Sure enough, the first day passed without interruption from the room. Trunks was back on his feet in the morning and straight into fusion training with Goten in wilderness. Vegeta, Raditz and Piccolo were nowhere to be found during the first evening, though Gohan, Goten, Uub and Tien were back at the room for something to eat. They supposed that the three had simply been too preoccupied with training to come back, and had been right. On the second day though, Trunks and Goten's fusion training meant that Gohan had no sparring partner for the day. For an hour or two he tried it on his own, though found he lacked the proper routine and motivation for it to be as effective as that of the others. So hesitantly, Gohan sought out aid.

Vegeta sprung from the golden fields in the dimly lit arriving dawn, determined to get more powerful under his training. He hovered above a modestly sized island surrounded on all sides by violet waves that lapped against a deteriorating, cobalt rock face. The device on his wrist read out at five hundred times the Earth's normal pressure, a level that he'd already mastered, but coupled with the natural gravity of this strange world he'd realistically gone up to seven hundred, a feat he'd never before tried. He was charged almost to his maximum power, and still every movement was an ordeal, feeling like it would break his body in two if he relaxed for just a moment; even his eyes hurt when he strained them to see the approaching figure of Gohan.

The hybrid levelled out next to his older comrade as Vegeta toned the device down two hundred Gs to reach a level where he could talk properly.

"What is it Gohan?" the Prince barked, irritated by the intrusion. "I said I wanted to train alone, so you'd better have a good reason for interrupting me."

Gohan didn't answer immediately, he simply cast his eyes over the patches of land where Vegeta had been practicing on the ground. Seeing the destruction he'd wreaked on this small island of an area reminded Gohan just how serious the saiyan was when he got to work. "I see you've been training hard." He noted.

"I _always_ train on another level to what you could even think possible. If I didn't know any better I'd say I've surpassed your father right now, but knowing him I'd be a fool to make it an announcement."

Gohan nodded, seeing that compared to his original form of the super saiyan four, Vegeta's power had increased exponentially, almost being an equal to Gogeta's, the fused form of the two rivals who'd completely annihilated Omega Shenron. He continued with a grin "And yet I'm still a match for you."

Vegeta let out a hollow laugh. "Oh please, if you think your little unearned, steroid boost of a power can top mine you've got some serious reconsidering to do." The saiyan's taunts were of little proof though; in his first matchup Gohan's ultimate form had been far more powerful than his own maximum. In the following time they'd spent in the Room , Vegeta had improved again by a long way, but even that had simply put him as Gohan's firm equal rather than his superior.

"Well I guess we'll just have to see." Remarked Gohan.

Vegeta smiled once again as he continued "So, you want me to train with you, is that it?" Gohan's reaction told him that his intuition was right.

"I figured you wouldn't spar with me if you didn't respect me, and I-"

"Figured that to get my respect you had to try and gaud me into it, to adopt my kind of attitude and to show me that you're confident in your own in strength." Vegeta finished Gohan's sentence for him, summing it up perfectly while still not giving the man a proper answer.

"I trained under Piccolo as a child; I know how this goes. I'm ready for anything you can throw at me."

Vegeta smirked confidently, and in a flash he'd burst into a dash of speed and his forearm had met Gohan's. The two stared each other down as they fought for control before separating into an equal brawl, with the prince determined to make the son of Kakarot eat his words.

* * *

Training passed like this for a little while; rather than having completely solitary training Vegeta would often pair up with Gohan for heated matches. Raditz stayed alone for the most part; as did Piccolo, but Uub and Tien continued to partner up and Goten and Trunks switched between one another and Gohan and Vegeta respectively. Trunks underwent the same horrors in training as he had with the previous transformation, only this time much, much worse. He was helped by Vegeta to master the fourth level, as just accessing it was difficult at first, but maintaining it over long periods of time was another matter entirely. It required intense skill and physical strength to stay at a super saiyan four for hours on end, and with his youth Trunks's body had made the transformation prematurely and so was forced to adapt quickly under the new conditions.

The group stayed at the nameless, golden planet for a whole three weeks before the room one day zapped them away to another planet among the stars. This one was also evidently not one which the room had pulled from their memories, as it was inhabited solely by a strange bunch of mechanic, clunking life forms, some which took the shape of what the group perceived as natural household appliances. They were a race sparse in number, with only a few hundred in total populating the surface, leaving the rest of the untamed wilderness for the warriors to do battle upon. It was nice to be back in some kind of civilisation, even if the strange species had no way to communicate with the Z-Fighters, but still it provided a refreshing change to actually be able to see living beings. They stayed for a few days before moving on, and after that the next few shifts were back to back within minutes, like they were when only Trunks and Vegeta had come here first.

The room was more unpredictable unstable now thanks to losing its final hourglass, and the jumps became more violent and dangerous in nature. With every one the group feared visiting some place they'd been before, knowing that if it did then the plain of the Vices would be their next stop. Fortunately it didn't happen for another short while after the golden planet, but each of the fighters got that same sense of foreboding; a feeling that something was around the corner that got more prevalent with each warp through space and time. Each of the fighters knew it as well as the next: They could not escape the Vices forever.

* * *

_It's a little shorter than some of the latest chapters, but I thought it was decent enough for what I wanted to do with it. A couple of things happened that might be seen just as passing filler but were more important and foreshadowed future events. These are the events that I've been planning almost since the conception of this story, seriously you have no idea what's in store for the last four Vices and of course the master. If I can pull of even half the stuff I'm planning I'm sure you won't be dissapointed (fingers crossed)_. _Also, I don't know if anyone noticed but I made a reference to the first season in the opening ^-^ The phrase _"I have no use for a paralysed Vicis." _was almost exactly what was said by Vegeta when he finished Nappa, only he obviously said _'Saiyan'_ instead_ - _fun fact for you there._


	20. Chapter 20 Unsure

Chapter 20: Unsure

The Room floated through time and space at its own free will, meaning that when the fighters landed on a moon as they had done three days ago, they had no sense of time to guide them. Seven of them were asleep when the shift began, with it being night time according to their internal body clocks. Vegeta however, stayed out upon the rocks, sitting quietly and thinking things through. In his quiet frustration the Prince suddenly punched down a fist to smash a hand-sized crater in the surface of the cliff face before his vision turned to a bleach white and he closed his eyes. Five seconds later he opened them to find himself sitting in the exact same position but on the balcony of the room, and so calmly he entered one of the bedrooms for safety, feeling several ki signals hum to life.

"Just when I thought I could have a good night's sleep." Cursed Goten. He sat up suddenly to see that Gohan, Tien and Uub whom he shared a room with had taken their positions. They clamped their grips tight around objects bolted to the Room's floor, and seeing that the ground began to tilt the hybrid leapt up out of bed and did the same. He made for the doorway and rooted himself to the opening, and could see across from him that Piccolo had assumed the same position in the adjacent room, since the whole thing was now made up of two stuck together.

They stared into the void that warped with a twisted hypnotism, convulsing into both alien and familiar images as it loaded up like the corrupt programme of a computer. A familiar desert scene was shown followed by a snowy mountain range that lasted only a few seconds before morphing into the setting of one of the original World Martial Arts Tournaments. Quotes from the likes of unrelated voices like Roshi and Frieza blasted from every angle along with the sound of a whole choir of people from all over the universe. This continued for a while until something peculiar happened. The Room's main view in the void twisted and morphed into the setting of a spotless grand hall, surfaced by a glistening, mirror like floor that reflected every image projected to it. The hall itself was extraordinary, but what intrigued Goten and Piccolo more were the two beings that resided within it. From the hundred metre high roof descended the slender neck of the great dragon Shenron. He looked down with an emotionless gaze at his subject, a lone man with a wild black mane of hair clad in a bright orange gi, with the symbol of King Kai emblazoned on the back.

Goku turned, and for the briefest moment made eye contact with both Goten and Piccolo in turn, showing that unlike most other onlookers, he was well aware of the Room's presence.

"Hey guys!" he cried cheerily, waving a single hand at them. With that he was gone, as the room suddenly shifted again with a flash of bright light and a sudden rock that almost caused Piccolo to lose grip.

"Dad!" yelled Goten, extending a helpless hand to the void.

"Did he say dad!" mused Gohan from the leg of one of the planted beds. Before his question could be answered the room was flipped upside down and the whole atmosphere was suddenly stricken with a dose of intense light that as usual, knocked each fighter out for the count as the place slowed to a halt.

* * *

"Piccolo? Piccolo!"

Piccolo stifled a moan as he hazily opened his eyes. Evidently he'd been the last fighter to regain consciousness, as now the remaining seven stood around him waiting. It had been Raditz who'd woke him up. "I'm alright." He replied as he sat up, paying little notice to whether or not he actually _was _alright.

"Good, because you're not going to _believe _where we are right now."

"Huh?" Piccolo stared out as the other fighters parted to give him a clear view of the planet they now resided on. Blue grass spread out below them as they overlooked a small village made up of dome shaped huts with odd doors. Odd looking humanoids, elders and children alike peacefully nurtured crops for the rare ajissa trees that had once populated their original home planet.

"We're on New Planet Namek." Gohan revealed. "They seem to be doing pretty well don't you think?"

Piccolo's gruff exterior was thoroughly maintained, though those that knew him noted his obvious happiness at being reunited with his people for a time. He gave a vague smile, which then dropped as he considered its implications. "The Vices will no doubt have this place under their watch; the second we leave here we'll be back with them."

"We know; it's alright." Reassured Tien. "If we're not ready for them now we never will be."

"And we've got to keep our training here to a minimum. I'm sorry but this is still a new planet, I won't let you cause any unnecessary damage to it while the namekians are still raising this place."

"Fair enough. We'll just have to pray that we're strong enough to take them on now." Said Raditz.

"I hope so. At any rate I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to spend some time with them for a while; I've an idea that could help our situation." Piccolo stood up and strode over to the balcony, fondly looking down on the first colony of his own people he'd seen in years.

"Sure, take all the time you need." Goten agreed.

With that Piccolo made his way off the veranda and into the open view of the small village. His comrades appeared behind him and followed close by for their first encounter with the namekians in years. The village elder rushed out and a handful of younglings gathered around the spot where the fighters would land, amazed by their power, in particular the fact that one of them was their own kind. A closer look at the approaching elder revealed to the older fighters that this was in fact the same elder that had been entrusted as the leader by the last Guru and led his people in the new world. _Good_, figured Piccolo.

"Ah, so the son of Katas and his friends return, not bearing trouble this time I hope?" began the green man. He spoke relatively well considering he hadn't used the language in a while, though how long it had been exactly they'd yet to establish.

"Not directly, but we are in a situation. It's good to see you again Moori." Said Piccolo, surprisingly courteously.

"You too my boy." The aged namekian placed a warm hand on Piccolo's shoulder. "Tell me, how fares Dende?"

"Grown into a fine guardian, but listen Moori, how long has it been for you since you left Earth and headed here?"

"Hmm, let's see now. . ." said Moori. He placed a hand to his chin and pondered thoughtfully before continuing. "Over ten decades now, why do you ask?"

_Good._ Calculated Piccolo. _A namekian year is about a third of Earth's, so that should make it almost forty years by my reckoning: It seems we're in the right timeline. _"I have a favour to ask." He continued. "We need you to gather the Dragon Balls and get in touch with the Kais as soon as you can; I've no idea how long we've got here."

"For all your people have done for us, we could never decline such a simple request. Though, do you mind me asking what for?"

Piccolo considered. "I'm not exactly sure yet, I just have a feeling we'll need them before this is over. But in the meantime I'd like to stay with your village, and my friends could use some land for quiet training."

"Certainly."

Piccolo turned to his comrades and a simple nod gave the seven of them the go-ahead to suddenly soar away for the remainder of the little time they had left to prepare themselves, mostly in the form of meditation.

* * *

For the next few days Piccolo stayed with the namekians, aiding them in their labour and informing the adults of the situation that had presented itself. Already a Dragon Ball was residing within one of the buildings of this very village and within twelve hours a pair of the fitter adults had returned with another two. Moori and Piccolo talked over the difficult circumstances they'd gotten themselves into whilst generally exchanging small talk concerning how the namekians had fared since they left Earth. The eight Z-Fighters prepared their minds for the fight ahead, mostly in solitude from one another, though they occasionally did meet up for some light sparring. They could do little to train for what was to come; the strength they'd gained in the last couple of months would have to be enough to see off all four Vices, as now they had no way of a quick escape.

As Vegeta sat alone over a desolate cliff edge, he studied his gloved hand before clamping it tight with another look of frustration. He'd never been so troubled before; it wasn't that each of the four Vices were more than a match for their strongest fighter, he'd known that from the beginning. Something else was on his mind, something that to him was far more frightening. He closed his eyes and forced them tightly shut before hearing the sound of a cracking rock behind him. Vegeta turned in a quick movement, only to see Raditz approaching only a few feet away.

"Oh, it's you." He grunted. "What do you want? I thought I said I wanted to be left alone."

Raditz said nothing, only strode over to his prince's side and sat down beside him. Vegeta experienced a few moments of awkward silence before the long haired warrior finally spoke. "You didn't notice me until I was right behind you Vegeta."

Vegeta recoiled at his partner's bold perceptiveness.

"Something's wrong." Raditz added. "What's the matter with you?"

The prince was shocked that Raditz could make such an accusing statement, but alas it was true. He'd been distracted the last few days, and the other fighters had expected to feel his ki signal rising up every hour of every day, but it rarely had. "It's nothing. Go away and do your own work." He insisted.

"Don't be like that." Raditz was going nowhere until he got an answer. He slouched further down onto the grass and let his legs dangle down over the cliff. "We're in this together. We can't afford to not have you in a battle."

"I said leave me alone."

"Not until you tell me what's up."

Vegeta snarled and looked away with an irritated grimace. His gaze slowly fell back to his hand as he looked upon it with a sense of powerlessness. "It's just. . ." he begun, clenching it into a fist.

Raditz figured he was about to talk some more, but the saiyan's pride got the better of him and Vegeta kept his mouth shut before revealing any more. "C'mon old buddy. Not even just between you and me? We're both the only pure blooded saiyans here; maybe I can help you with it?"

Vegeta emitted a low growl again before sighing in reluctance. He continued. "I'm reaching the pinnacle of the strength of my super saiyan 4 form; I've almost mastered it completely."

"But – that's good isn't it?" Raditz looked confused.

"No. . My progress is slowing. It could only take another week or so for me to have complete mastery over the super saiyan four, and then my power will stop growing completely. I'll be maxed out; finally at the limits of what I can achieve."

"But you don't know anything for sure; you mastering the super saiyan four, doesn't that mean that you could ascend to an even higher level?" Raditz deduced.

Vegeta shook his head. "I seriously doubt it. With the other levels I got a sense of great foreboding, like there was another plateau of power around the corner. But I don't with this one. Either there is no level above a super saiyan four or I'm just too old to reach it. Either way, it seems that I'll be of little use in another few years or so, and that's _if _we survive this affair."

"Don't talk like that! I'm sure it's not the case!" Raditz protested. "You're probably the most powerful fighter of the lot of us!"

"Let's face it Raditz, I'm an old man. I might look young, being a saiyan, but even I will feel the effects of aging soon, and I suspect it will begin with this limit I'm so close to reaching. There'll be no room for fighting among old men like me; if we ever get out of this mess I should just give it up and leave it to the next generation, they're strong enough as it is."

"Vegeta. . ." Raditz was completely at a loss for words. Never would he expect the saiyan prince to make such a solemn conversation, and especially one of such magnitude. He'd never taken Vegeta as insecure in his own limits and unconfident in his power; he'd always been so proud, so determined to be the most powerful. Now that he'd pointed it out, Raditz couldn't help but notice the age in the fighter's wizened old eyes. Now that he thought about it, how old _was _Vegeta? He must've been in his mid sixties, sixty at the youngest. Among the standards of normal men there was no room for fighting amongst people so old but. . . He was _Vegeta_, Raditz reminded himself: how could _he _be applicable to those same standards? Maybe it was from spending so much time on Earth that he'd grown accustomed to their principles.

Raditz stood up straight, calmly looking out across the emerald ocean and preparing to take off. He spared one last look to his comrade and offered some final comforting words. "Vegeta, you're the prince, no - the _king _of all saiyans now that your father is dead. I know you've never wanted to claim that title, but over the years you've deserved it tenfold. It would be my honour and the honour of any warrior worth his salt to fight alongside you in a battle someday, and I pray that day comes soon. . . Besides," Raditz took off into the sky, stopped at a few metres up and turned to the man. "You've still got your fight with Kakarot to finish!" With that Raditz was off, flying away with a stream of ki that separated the waves beneath him as he skimmed the surface of the water, leaving Vegeta with another few things to think about.

The next day, when he was sure the other warriors were out of the way for their opportunity to mock him, Piccolo spent some time telling the curious entire village about the numerous adventurous events that had transpired since they'd last seen them. He demonstrated the awesome power he'd accumulated to the six youngsters of the village as they'd watched in awe and admired him, idolising the wise namekian for what would be the rest of their lives. Again he was approached by Moori a few hours later, who informed him that he'd gotten in touch with the kais and that only one Dragon Ball remained to be gained from the farthest village. Piccolo still didn't have a plan, much to the dismay of both Moori and the telepathic voice of the Elder Kai, but at least now the three groups were in synch with one another.

"Why don't you just use the Dragon Balls to destroy this 'Room' and seal the Vices away?" suggested Moori. Piccolo considered it briefly as an option before the Elder Kai intervened.

"It would be a waste of a wish: the Dragon Balls can only destroy what their maker has the power to destroy. Not only was that room made by a much younger and fitter namekian than the Guru who made the namekian balls, but thanks to its constant shifting has now become a fixed point in space and time."

"That's right." Piccolo agreed. "We couldn't break down the door, even Gohan and Vegeta couldn't get the thing to move an inch. Whatever that thing is it can't be destroyed by any means we know of."

"So you'll have to stick it out if an opportunity to escape doesn't present itself." Said the Elder Kai

Kibito-Kai interrupted. "That sounds dangerous elder, do you really think we can let them fight this out? After what we've heard of these Vices I'm not sure it's a good idea to engage the higher ones without Goku."

"We'll be alright for the time being." Piccolo reassured, though he doubted his words. "Elder Kai, I was hoping you could tell us something about this 'master' of theirs."

Thousands of lightyears away the Elder turned and thought over the matter for a few moments as the younger Kai stared after him. "I know very little of the lore, since this was all from memories of even my youth." He began. "But I do remember something from back then. I could be mistaken, but in the past I was told as a child of a great evil that dwelled in another dimension; it seems to fit the profile of your vague description."

"Whoa, it was from when _you _were young? So this thing must be pretty old huh?"

"Watch your tongue boy!" scolded the Elder. Piccolo clapped a hand to his mouth, having never been called 'boy' before in his life.

"Sorry. So what can you tell us about it?"

"Hmm, very little; not much was known about it, only that it desired to be the most powerful in the universe and dwelled in another universe of its own making, with no way to cross into ours by any means it knew of."

"Why not?" Piccolo asked. "Surely if it was so powerful he couldn't it free himself?"

"It did once, and the tale states that its evil laid waste to the entire universe for three months until its antithesis defeated it and sealed it back in its realm, never to see the light of the real world again."

"So there's another like this Master? That means you could have another potential ally." Deduced Moori.

"Since it hasn't been seen since that day millions of years ago, I highly doubt it still lives. It sealed the dark master in its own realm and cursed him to face the harshness of eternal life in a desolate environment, though I doubt that the hero themselves had the same luxury. If the hero does still exist it would be so far away now that you'd never find it."

Piccolo considered for a few seconds. This story seemed to fit what was going on right now; meaning that if the master got hold of the room it could use it as a vessel to cross over into the true universe and wreak havoc once again.

"But what if-" The namekian was cut off suddenly. Moori shot him an anxious look as a blinding flash of light appeared across Piccolo's field of view and he felt himself being teleported away from this area by force. _So soon! _He feebly extended a hand to grab onto something, to try and anchor himself to this planet, but it was to no avail. He opened his eyes after closing them in the harsh shine to see six fighters stood around him rather than seven, realising quickly that one of them was Gotenks.

"This is it guys; no turning back now." Voiced Tien. The others nodded and quickly retreated into the safety of the Room's buildings, with Goten and Trunks separating. The ride was as rocky as ever, but different from the regular shifts; like the Room was being forcefully magnetised towards a certain spot in space and time. It was the Vices, reeling them to their domain like a helpless fish on a hook. The light from the void this time subsided rather quickly, presenting the Z-Fighters with a completely different landscape. To Vegeta, Trunks, Raditz and Piccolo it was familiar, but to the others it was completely alien. The group were back at the ominous tower of the Vices, looming over and shadowing a barren wasteland and personifying the death that was about to ensue. Two figures raced from the entrance, each still more powerful than their strongest fighter at a first glance. Novus and Decimus approached, the nine and ten o'clock Vices.

"It's this place again." Noted Trunks.

"Bring it on! I'm ready for a good fight!" Raditz cheered. Once again he was the only person who seemed to have his saiyan blood pumping for some action. He cracked his knuckles and patted back his hair as he stepped off the surface of the room. A hissing noise then suddenly sounded, and with only that to give them any warning, Raditz had vanished into thin air along with one of the approaching Vices.

"Raditz!" called Goten, making for the ground where his uncle had just disappeared.

"No!" Piccolo suddenly grabbed the youngest saiyan and pulled him back by the collar. With quick reflexes he'd made sure that he hadn't foolishly gone after Raditz, but it left the group in a dilemma. "It's something to do with this place; it has some kind of ability to use the room's power to transport us away to another place. It did it last time! Whoever steps onto its surface gets dragged into single combat with them."

Piccolo's explanation enlightened the minds of those who hadn't been here the first time or just simply forgotten. After a few seconds though, the realisation dawned on them.

"So you mean that whoever steps off the room has to fight that guy alone?" muttered Uub, taking no care to hide the fear in his voice.

"I'm afraid so, which means that now we have to make the decision of who goes. We're too late to assist Raditz so I guess we can just hope he can hold his own for a while, but at least now we have a choice."

An eerie silence went around the group. Fighters either were too scared to volunteer or didn't want to seem as though they were hogging all the action for themselves. Trunks and Goten exchanged nervous glances before nodding to one another in determination.

"What about Gotenks, can he go?" said Goten hopefully.

"I'm not sure, but I wouldn't risk it," said Piccolo. "I've a feeling that if you fused now the transport would separate you and take only one, and that would hardly be ideal."

"Aww." Goten's moaned as his head sank.

"Let me go."

Heads turned to the voice of Gohan, who'd now stood up and stared after the fast approaching Vicis in the distance. A look of fire filled his eyes as he continued what they expected to be a long speech.

"He's my uncle, and I'm the oldest out of his relatives here, so it should be me to go after him. I might not be able to help him out as much as I'd like, but if anyone's capable of taking one of those guys on it's me. So whether you guys like it or not I'm going; let's see these guys face the full fury of a fully powered Son Goha-"

A cackling hiss sounded to cut off Gohan's heroic words. The Vicis overhead in the sky disappeared and the Z-Fighters turned to see a body disappear off the left side of the balcony. After a brief scan around each other, the culprit was obvious.

"Vegeta!"

Uncharacteristically, he'd walked off into battle without telling any of them or claiming how he was the most powerful and fit for the job. Gohan slapped a hand to his forehead and his face went bright red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"Argh! That Vegeta! If he makes it back here alive I'll kill him myself!"

* * *

_I'll be perfectly honest, this should've been up yesterday, my bad. All I can say is Dragon Quest IX. . . Phwar! What a game! It's for the same reason that this chapter lacks polish so if there's any mistakes feel free to point them out and in general I dunno, I just wasn't feeling on my A-game with this chapter. Hope it's good enough though, this is where things get interesting :D And another thing, I recently reset my laptop so I'm on a trial version of Word and only have like 8 uses left unless SOMEO_NE (you know who you are god damnit!) _len_ds _me their copy so I can get the key and not have to use shitty freaking wordpad. I should be alright for the next chapter or two, but if I don't get it by then I'll give you his e-mail and you can feel free to spam the crap out of him. MWUHAHAHA_


	21. Chapter 21 Honourable Foe

Chapter 21: Honourable Foe

The first sensation Raditz felt before his sight even kicked in was the feel of a cold winter's frostbite nipping at his every muscle. Eventually he rubbed his sore eyes open to find, as he'd expected, that they were in a completely new place altogether. A snow capped mountain range surrounded him as far as the eye could see, that was calm at the moment despite the internal storm of the two opposing fighters. Novus stood opposite the man twenty paces higher up the mountainside, looking as intimidating as ever in that high-powered battle suit that characterised the number nine Vicis.

From the high emanating power level, Raditz supposed that Novus was a man of great stature behind the seven foot outfit. He stood as tall as the lanky Piccolo and so had the height advantage on Raditz himself who was the tallest of the three still-living original saiyans.

"You." A distorted voice coming from an amplifier on the Vices' chest startled Raditz initially. "Are you the one who defeated Quatrus?"

"Me?" Raditz said, shrugging and scratching his head. "No, I don't think so. I have enough dignity to remember the names of my opponents, the guy I fought was called Tertius, but I might be wrong; you _do _all have really similar names."

Novus stood still for a full thirty seconds before replying with a simple "I see."

Raditz called up hesitantly. "Wasn't Quatrus the barrier guy? If so the two people that defeated him are called Tien and Uub; he agreed to a two on one fight with them and he deserved defeat for his ignorance."

Once again Novus stood silently for a few moments as Raditz sensed the desperate conflict behind the armour. "Then you are not my enemy." He said, turning his back and starting up the mountain.

Novus walked slowly with a clunking of heavy boots that each seemed to weigh half a tonne each and would leave more than a bruise if properly used in a kick. However, the armoured Vicis made it only a few steps with his back turned to the saiyan before Raditz materialised right before his eyes in a screaming right hand with the full weight of his body and a burst of super saiyan power. Novus swerved left into a dodge, and only just managed to be successful whilst losing far too much balance for a counterattack. The two backed off to a reasonable level, now on equal ground.

"Avenging your comrades is a noble gesture and all – I honestly didn't think you Vices had any concept of honour, but right now I'm your opponent. That Quatrus fellow was one sadistic bastard and deserved everything Uub and Tien dished out on him. You wanna fight them? Then you've got to go through me first." Raditz declared. He hummed into the second stage of super saiyan to back up his speech and contend with the power level of the Vicis that he felt fluctuating. _Great, _he thought with a touch of cynicism, _A Vicis that's pissed off, that'll make things so much easier. I've got to tread carefully since I've no idea what this guy's capable of, and people fight recklessly when they're mad._

Again Novus stood still before releasing a sigh that sounded odd through the mechanised distorter. "Very well."

At the slightest hint of a combat stance Raditz had fled into his preferred level of the air and prepared to engage in his second fight with the Vices, which he expected would be tougher than the last. What he _didn't _expect was just how much difference in power there was between their ranks; feeling power levels from other fights wasn't enough, Raditz had to feel the difference in the strength of their fists, and that's exactly what had happened. As soon as he'd backed up into what he presumed to be a safe distance Novus had appeared from nowhere behind him and sent him flying to the ground with a smash from a steel fist as big as the saiyan's skull. He careered down in a state of dizziness, though managed to stop and regain control seconds before he hit the snowy surface. Raditz looked up and little to his surprise, Novus had resumed the offensive. From his insane suit of power armour a barrage of fearsome missiles infused with ki locked onto the long haired saiyan and homed in quickly. He sent two into the snow in an escape and continued fleeing them through the air. As much as he ducked and weaved and rolled about, Novus had the last two under his complete control, and would not lose Raditz so easily.

_I guess I'd better feel the power of one of these things anyway. _Raditz figured, wincing. _This is gonna hurt._ He sped up a little faster and landed on one of the adjacent peaks that populated the area. His boost gave him another moment of time to direct his attack before he finally unleashed it.

"_Double Sunday!"_

As Raditz fired one of his signature moves the snow burned beneath the heat of his blast, revealing an odd golden rock just to show him that they thankfully weren't on earth. The yellow beam collided with the first missile, detonating it in the air prematurely before the last one zoomed in.

_Here goes_.

The blast was several times worse than Raditz had expected, as the poor fighter had to throw up his defences suddenly to stop his body being obliterated by the enormous explosion that whirled up into a misty cloud of dust.

Novus surveyed the landscape and sensed the ki level behind it, satisfied that Raditz had been wiped off the face of the earth for good. But underestimating Raditz was a mistake he'd be sure none would ever make again. Again Novus headed off, and again the Vices' escape was thwarted by Raditz diving up from underneath, connecting with a powerful uppercut with the fury of a Super Saiyan 3. Novus tumbled into an awkward roll pivoting from an armoured chin as the now longer haired saiyan comically blew on his hand and nursed it after connecting it at full power with solid metal.

"Not bad; you have more power than I bargained for." Said Novus, levelling out into a suitable stance. "Interesting."

"This is only the beginning, you haven't seen half of what I've got in store for you!"

Novus hovered quietly for some time, with that concealing helmet and distorted voice making it nigh on impossible to deduce what exactly the man was thinking. Finally he spoke. "I don't know how you do things on Earth, but I thought that in battle you generally introduce yourself to you your opponent before a fight."

Raditz cocked his head in confusion before sporting a confident grin. "Whoa, so you _do _understand honour, you're different to the rest of those freaks for sure; at least it'll be a blast fighting you."

"You men, you care only for your own selfish pride - fighting shouldn't be about having fun, now what is your name?" Novus interrogated.

"Shows what you know," said Raditz, assuming a stance, "I'm not human, I'm a saiyan from Planet Vegeta and brother to Kakarot, the man you guys are hunting down. Raditz is my name, and you'll remember it before this is over."

". . . Novus, number nine Vicis of the dusk."

Raditz had took a brief glance at the symbol pointing to nine o'clock, this time smeared in red paint across the surface of the great mecha suit. "Pleasure to meet you Novus. Now, shall we?"

The two fighters disappeared in a burst of high speed as Raditz closed in for the kill. He engaged the metal fighter up close for an aerial fistfight, displaying a touch of strategy that he'd gotten from Piccolo.

_If I'm up close he can't fire off one of those rockets, and I doubt he'll be fast up close with that heavy armour._

Unfortunately for Raditz he was only somewhat correct. Novus was at a disadvantage in close quarters, but still he batted around those lumbering steel arms in time with Raditz's own lighting fast combo. Each time Raditz aimed a blow to the head one of those brick-like metal arms came up to defend, and this happened with every aimed attack he fired off. Novus might not have been able to beat the saiyan up close, but he could surely keep up until a chance came. His heavy arms swung faster than Raditz thought should be possible for armour so massive, and the size wasn't just for show either; every time Raditz swung his arm the pain that overcame him proved to him that the armour was dense almost to the core.

Eventually Novus had to create an opportunity for himself thanks to the saiyan's relentless strikes. In what seemed like an odd move for a fighter to do, Novus purposefully dropped his guard for just a moment to let Raditz slam a powerful right hook into what should've been his kidneys. The armour was too thick to make Novus feel the full force of the pain, but a distorted gasp told Raditz that he'd at least done some damage, and that was evident by the fist shaped denture he'd left in the Vices' left side. Though with his right hand occupied, Novus brought up a monstrous foot just as Raditz was about to follow through and delivered a powerful kick to knock him back to a reasonable distance.

Once Raditz was in range, Novus was back on the offensive, firing off a web of piercing violet lasers sprouting up from different extremities on the power armour. Raditz launched back into high speed, dashing in between shots like a helpless puppy only to always come face to face with another intersecting beam. After a short while Novus grew tired of the cat and mouse, and opted to launch another four missiles at Raditz, who was still madly prancing to and fro in the air. As a super saiyan three he had enough speed to push himself a little faster and outrun the four missiles, but that coupled with the overlapping laser beams would be a challenge indeed.

He began zipping in and out of the line of fire in concentrated bursts of speed so that Novus had to keep readjusting his aim, but no matter what he couldn't get within range of the source. A reckless, stupid idea suddenly hit him, but it was at least worth a shot, as both were simply toying with one another at the moment and they'd get nowhere without taking risks. Raditz doubled back in a flashy U-turn and headed straight towards the stationary Vicis, shaking off two of the missiles in the process. Rolling and ducking away from the relentless purple beams, he hurtled straight towards Novus as fast as his body would allow. Novus had expected that Raditz would pull up at the last second to attempt a classic 'hit you with your own attack' manoeuvre. But he was much too clever for that. Raditz knew that Novus had complete control over those missiles and that they wouldn't go anywhere unless he willed them to. So once he had a second of a window, Raditz rolled into space and let fly a powerful Double Sunday.

Before the blast even hit Novus square in the chest he was flanked from behind by a detonating pair of missiles as he'd anticipated, but at least he'd got off his own beam and they'd both took a hit. Raditz though, took more of a punishment. Two of Novus's rockets had somehow done quadruple the damage he'd experienced from one of them as a Super Saiyan 2, no doubt from him pouring more ki into their cores. Novus however, remained virtually unharmed. The blast had barely detonated past the thick armour and served only to slightly burn his suit and knock the wind out of him.

"I must say Raditz." Novus began again in that disturbing tone. "You have exceeded my expectations, but this fight is going nowhere for you. In my attack just now I pulled up the vital information from your fight with Tertius in this visor here. As it stands you have no chance. You can utilise a technique called the super kaio-ken to boost your maximum strength, though this would only serve to postpone the inevitable outcome, as it still would be not enough for me right now. Even if you somehow did manage to defeat me in this form, you are aware that all Vices can transform to a higher state at will. You may as well give it up now. Please."

Raditz let out a slight chuckle that conveyed confidence as well as a genuine sense of humour. He looked down at his hands and sparked energy into them whilst weighing the strength difference up between himself and his opponent. Finally he spoke. "I think you might be right there; my Super Saiyan 3 form is no match for you, and even if I used the Super Kaio-ken it would almost even things out, though not enough to tip this battle in my favour. . . But what if I do this?"

Finally Raditz had laid his cards down on the table, and bracing into a power-up position, he prepared a transformation that he'd yet to show to anyone until today.

"Don't look away now; you'll be the first person to see me at this level of power, so consider yourself lucky!"

Raditz generated a humming sound that slowly escalated into a fearsome war cry as golden mist encircled him and his entire body began to change. His eyebrows grew back into bushy, black streaks and his hair mirrored it whilst receding only to his waistline. His gi disappeared in a mystical occurrence and his torso was suddenly coated with a crimson layer of fur that stopped at his defined chest. He stood more upright than before, his entire body being slightly leaner and characterised with more defined muscles rather than bulky, cumbersome ones. Like the prince of his race's transformation, he was given a pair of black leather pants, though these were accompanied by twin red stripes running up either side to match the colour scheme of his previous gi and blend in with his red fur. Finally, Raditz's eyes opened, revealing dark, crimson spheres that seemed to glow with a sinister look as the red of his own kaio-ken.

"How about this Novus! Did you consider a Super Saiyan 4 into your calculations!" he barked, pumped up for a battle after his transformation. Picturing his shocked expression behind the mask, Raditz dashed forwards and landed a massive straight that connected viciously with Novus's face, denting the helmet deeply before he followed through with a swirling kick to the back. Novus plummeted to the snow as a steel meteor ploughing through fresh powder. He regained control almost instantly, but not after Raditz had charged another attack his way.

"_Double Sunday!"_ he barked. A fresh yellow beam, this one considerably more potent than the last, erupted from Raditz's palms, devastating the mountain below and leaving a fresh layer of fog in the air where he'd blown out the snow. A few moments passed as the saiyan hovered overhead in the wake of his destruction. His blood was boiling, adrenaline pumping and reflexes primed for another assault, but none came, and he was simply left staring down into the clearing mist.

"Come out Novus! I know someone of your power couldn't be killed by an attack like that."

After another few seconds of waiting, Novus drifted up and out of the fallout, sporting a bright scorch that had torn away some armour upon his left side, leaving only a suit of steel mesh to conceal his lower ribs.

"I think you'd better transform. You know you're no match for me like that anymore."

"Never!" spat the distorted voice, this time first conveying an emotion; one of irritancy. "I'm more than enough to deal with you as it is!" Novus lifted a scorched arm, and with a grunt of pain blasted away six ki infused missiles. But Raditz was ready, and more than capable of handling these. He raised a single hand, effortlessly batting away the attacks with a look of satisfaction before booting away the final one in a flashy kick. He looked back down to his opponent, only to find that Novus had again disappeared, this time reappearing to his left and firing off a stream of those manufactured lasers. He ducked and weaved between them, heading towards Novus to engage the Vicis in close range combat. To his surprise, Novus did not back away from the closing in saiyan, only ceased his attack and succumbed to the brawl despite having no chance of winning.

In the close quarters Raditz hammered Novus at every turn. The Vicis desperately attempted to keep up, though fell short at his every blow to be met by another painful smash to the body. It was a brutal massacre; even the reinforced armour didn't ruin the saiyan's knuckles as they'd done previously thanks to his relative invulnerability as a Super Saiyan 4. At every opportunity Raditz slammed another fist or kick into the powerful armour only to be met by more horrifying determination on Novus's part. The guy just wouldn't give in, and knew how to take a beating even better than Vegeta. Eventually the saiyan exploited an opening in a lazy attack by dashing upwards and releasing another powerful ki blast to hurl Novus back into the mountain, where he cratered deep into the icy snow in a puffy explosion.

Raditz landed smoothly a few metres away. "I don't know if you're trying to set yourself some sick challenge, but if you don't transform you'll die. Why _exactly _are you holding this off? You know you can't win."

A low growl emanated from the crater as Novus, with his armour looking ready to fall apart, stood up and faced Raditz. More emotion was revealed in his tone of voice than before, this time his words contained anger and desperate frustration. "_Shut up! I can beat you whenever I choose!" _With that Novus had bolted towards the man, exploding in a flurry of lightning fast punches. They hit nothing but air, as an unimpressed Raditz read every movement and darted in and out of them at even higher speeds. A single kick to an exposed side saw the Vicis on the ground again, this time writhing in pain from the well placed connection.

"Transform Novus, you look pathetic like that. You'll never avenge your comrade in that state, so whatever reason you have for holding back you'd better throw it aside right away. It's beginning to become insulting."

"You're a thousand years away from competing with _my_ ascended form." Novus insisted.

"So it's strong is it? Yeah, I figured it would be since you're the highest any of us have fought so far. But one thing you should know about the saiyans is that we're born and bred fighters; the prospect of a powerful opponent only makes me more excited."

After a moment's contemplation Novus stood, this time making no effort to attack. He towered almost a whole foot above Raditz in that power suit, making the saiyan wondering how big the guy was underneath it. Regardless, he had a feeling he would find out soon enough.

"I see. . ." Novus said, this time looking off into space. He seemed to have calmed down now that he'd made his choice. "Raditz. You are a warrior with pride and honour are you not?"

Looking confused, Raditz gave a hesitant nod.

"I must have your word, that be they Vices or human, you must not tell any soul of what you are about to see."

Raditz nodded. "Alright. If this is you accepting that this fight is between you and me alone, then I'll honour that arrangement till my dying day."

Almost a full thirty seconds of silence spread between the two as Novus with the tough decision. The Vicis thought over it, and Raditz stood firm in anticipation before the number nine finally spoke.

"Prepare yourself."

With no further prompt, the painted orange clock upon the surface of Novus's power armour began to spin and whirl, distorting just as the tattoos of the others did. An enormous increase of power, one more dramatic than any Raditz had felt before began to initiate. The crater that the Raditz had hammered the Vicis into began to grow under the pressure of the ridiculously swelling energy, with Raditz gliding slowly up into a hover to prevent the ground coming up from beneath him. Swirling clouds of wind and snow rushed away, as if even they were frightened of Novus's power level, and rightly so. Eventually the convulsing clock hands began to slow, and just as Raditz's mind wandered to '_but he hasn't physically changed at all!'_ something extraordinary happened. Two steel buckles unhooked at the left side of Novus's gargantuan armour as steam escaped from him like a decompressing airlock. The breastplate of the suit swung open on two creaking hinges, though by then the steam had prevented Raditz from a clear view as the enormous leggings followed. He heard the noise of the metal garments clattering to the floor, and finally the visor capped helmet clipping off and also being tossed aside.

As the smoke cleared, Raditz held his breath in maddening anticipation, staring up at where the helmet had been just a moment ago before the mist swept away. To his surprise though, when the smoke finally cleared, no head remained. He whirled around, expecting a surprise attack from behind, but when none came he averted his eyes back to the clearing ruin, jaw dropping in shock when he saw what awaited him.

Rather than an enormous, hulking brute with an unfathomable build, the saiyan was instead met with a _woman_ of striking beauty and elegance, no taller than his saiyan prince. She was well clad in thigh length denim shorts and a blue tank top to show off her exposed, though not immensely defined muscles. The redheaded woman, no older than thirty, embodied everything a female should've been, right down to the flowing, shoulder length hair and gorgeous blue eyes that stared out at the taller man and swum with a deep passion.

"Y-Y-Y, b-but you're a-a"

"A woman, yes." Said Novus, staring off into the distance as she had done previously. Without the distorted her voice was like a sweet melody to his ears. "And I'd appreciate it if you'd stop ogling and fight."

But Raditz was far too shocked to make a move; he'd expected a monster and gotten a bombshell. Coming to his senses, he scoped out her power level. There was no mistake, the insanely high ki came from her; she was not to be taken lightly for her appearances. But he couldn't help it, everything told him that this was just all wrong, why was such a pure looking goddess among the ranks of the enemy? It wasn't even as though her looks were deceptive; throughout even their fight he'd seen that she'd exhibited displays of human emotion other than that of the seven deadly sins, so why was she here? The answer was simple: she'd been created by this 'master' and knew no other life. It made Raditz sad to even think about. He considered whether she'd been so bothered about Quatrus because they were lovers, but then dismissed it quickly; she was far too mature in mentality for Quatrus, and he was a bit of a bastard anyway. She'd probably been more of a maternal figure to the brat, or maybe even a sister.

"H-Hey wait! That comment about men!" said Raditz, realising the proper nature of her previous remark. "I resent that!"

Novus sincerely chuckled a little, and once more Raditz could see no malice behind her expression; if anything she conveyed sadness. After a few seconds her sweet laughter stilled and she addressed the saiyan fighter. "You must uphold your end of the bargain: Not even Duodecimus has seen me in this form, and I'd prefer it to be kept that way."

"You got it." Agreed Raditz, experiencing a moment's hesitation.

"I see now that you, and probably your entire group are pure of heart, so I will seek no further vengeance for Quatrus's death. I detest fighting with every fibre of my being, but battling you is something I must do if I want to survive. . . I just thought you ought to know that I don't do this out of personal choice."

"Can't we just get along?" reasoned the saiyan. "I don't want to fight any more than you do."

Regrettably, Novus shook her head. "If I don't do this, then Master will kill me for my sins. I'm sorry."

With only that Novus disappeared in a flash, bracing into a combat stance and focussing her energy beforehand. Raditz briefly felt an upsurge of power and made a quick decision.

_I can't compete with her at this level; I'll have to take it up a notch. _He considered. "_Super Kaio-Ken!" _

As the bright crimson ki exploded from his body, a swift kick to the kidneys told him it still wouldn't be enough. Novus had reappeared, dealing a quick series of attacks that ended with a punch to the face. Poor Raditz was sent flying downhill, face first and drowning amongst all the snow that his cheek kicked up for him. He slowed down after a few moments though, noticing that Novus didn't yet pursue him.

"Alright then." He said, getting to his feet with a grunt and wiping away a trail of blood from his jaw. "If that's how you want to play it."

"That was the Super Kaio-Ken, making that your ultimate strength that I just bested in a few moves. Please give up; I'd hate to see you suffer so."

"Wrong again! Don't take pity on me; I'm not quite done yet! In fact I'm just getting warmed up!" Raditz cried. He enjoyed the look of shock on Novus's face when he unleashed another new level of strength. "_Super Kaio-Ken Times Two!_"

Raditz leapt forwards, seizing the full power of the double charged technique and releasing the strength of the attack into a combination. He kicked out twice and hit nothing but air in Novus's instinctive reaction. She was still surprised though, surprised enough to receive half the impact of Raditz's rising uppercut, which she'd have taken the full force of she'd been idle a second longer. With a frustrated grimace, Novus suddenly lashed out in a high kick that sent Raditz again into the skies, where she pulled him into close combat without a moment's hesitation. He could just about follow her movements, however it was soon apparent that he was still no match for her; she moved at speeds simply too fast for him to match. Upon seeing a punch incoming to the left he'd throw up a suitable block only to be pounded by another jab the second he got a success. For every shot he dodged or parried there were two more that landed bruises and fresh cuts, and the ordeal was beginning to frustrate him.

In the heat of battle Raditz had forgotten the 'short burst' duration of the Kaio-Ken. He realised it far too late. Novus's movements seemed to accelerate into a blur too fast for him to follow, but in actuality it was the Kaio-Ken giving out and his senses returning to normal. His sloppiness was rewarded with a huge smash to send him back down to the snow.

With that same sad expression, Novus gazed after him, struggling to his feet in the freezing cold snow and brushing powder from his fur. She hated all this and it was more than clear to Raditz, which only infuriated him further. A savage burn mark dripped down the left side of his forehead as he clenched his fist, hollering up to the woman.

"I don't wanna do this with you, but I'm not backing down! You're not like the other Vices – I can tell that just from the look on your face. Why don't you join us? You know that we fight for the right cause; your Master would destroy the entire universe if he had his way! You don't want that on your conscience do you!"

"No – he wouldn't. ." Novus hesitated before shaking her head and crying out defensively. "You're wrong, he'd never do something like that!"

"Listen to yourself! Why do you think he wants that Room anyway! Did he ever even tell you!"

But Novus had heard enough. She refused to open her eyes to the cruel truth that even most of the other Vices were in on, but she hadn't been told to keep her loyal. "Liar! _Divine Sickles!"_

The Vicis beauty crossed her arms in a whipping fashion and summoned two brilliant arcs of golden light. They exploded from her palms, crossing each other in an algebraic x-shape and heading straight for Raditz with ki enhanced sharpness.

_That's it; her signature attack. Time for full power; I just hope my body can hold out._

"_Super Kaio-Ken Times Three!"_

"A triple!" Novus hissed.

Raditz's muscles strained as though they were being pulled from every side by a slowly moving torture machine after bench-pressing twenty tonnes. He seized a firm grip on the technique, launching up and rolling away from the attack whilst keeping his sights on his target. She fired another wave of the sickles but under the adrenaline fuelled ride the saiyan managed to weave between them and re-engaged with a powerful kick. The two begun exchanging hits once more, but this time Raditz could keep up. At this level he followed her movements almost exactly and perfectly matched her for every hit as though the two were mentally synchronised. But it wouldn't hold out for long.

As much as Raditz had trained with the Super Kaio-Ken, he still could not sustain it for over thirty seconds at a time. He wouldn't be so foolish as to make the same mistake as last time; he'd prepare himself for when to back off if it was about to give out. Nevertheless, each time it became more and more difficult to reinitiate the technique. Soon droplets of sweat were trickling from his forehead and his breathing became the pained exhales of a sprinting chain-smoker. He'd temporarily beef himself up only to come as a match to his opponent, so he'd have to make every hit count.

"Novus!" he yelled once they'd landed again. "I _know _you don't want this! You can't be like the others, just come with us; we'll protect you!" Even though his plea was a desperate bid for time, he still believed his words and wished to stop the battle, knowing that Novus did too.

Her whole expression conveyed one of deep sorrow and remorse, showing an internal conflict of whether or not she could believe Raditz's words. She shook her head and scrunched up her eyes, this time with a show of actual tears. "You don't get it do you! I was created by the master; I'm a _part _of him and this place. It's not a question of strength; he could just switch me off and destroy me at a moment of his choosing; that's how much power he has over us!"

Raditz looked shocked - all the Vices he'd encountered up till now would've probably obeyed this 'master' whether they had to or not, but the fact that they had _no _choice whatsoever changed things. It meant that innocent victims like Novus were practically slaves to his will, with only death severing the connection he had upon them.

"I see." Said Raditz, assuming another stance. "In that case I apologise, it would be rude to try and talk you out of anything. It looks like neither of us want this, but it's something we both have to do."

Novus nodded sadly as the saiyan took advantage of her distraction.

"In that case, _Double Sunday!"_

He fired up an uncharged blast straight towards the woman, who in turn zapped out of the way and sent her own signature attack his way, this time splitting up both of the golden arcs so that they followed one another.

Raditz deftly stooped under the first, with it shaving wisps of hair from his wild mess, but the second caught him unawares. The razor sharp sickle of ki slammed into Raditz's gut, aiming to slice the fighter clean in two above the waist. Had he not flared out a powerful aura of defence at the last second he'd have been history, but even that didn't stop the attack from digging a deep slash wound at his stomach before dissipating, causing one of the most unimaginable pains he'd ever been subjected to. The wound throbbed with a harsh stinging sensation as six inches of muscle were sliced almost clean open. In the wake of his pain Novus lashed a kick his way, but that only served to dull the pain of gallons of blood rushing to the gash's surface. Small rocks littered the open wound in his face-grind across the mountain to cause even more agony, though every ounce of determination caused him to flip back up and onto his feet once again.

Despite being reluctant, when she got going Novus surely was a ruthless fighter. Raditz had been back on his feet a mere few seconds before he felt her rushing at him once again from behind, determined to get this over with as soon as possible. He panicked.

_Here goes nothing._

"_Super Kaio-Ken Times Four!"_

His body moved faster than even he could react to. The last thing he saw was Novus's eyes widen in fear of his cry before he let his instincts take over. He'd disappeared in a blur and appeared behind her, slamming a supercharged punch into her spine and sending her at least thirty metres deep into her own mountain crater.

He let the ability loose almost instantly, and the second he did the pain was unbelievable. He'd subdued her for now but at the price of most of his energy. The wound was made unbelievably worse by the strain on his muscles and it felt as though he'd had a huge store of essence completely sucked away from him.

_Shit, _he thought to himself. _I really shouldn't have done that, I don't know what I was thinking; I've never even tried that before. Once she gets back up I'll be in big trouble - I'm not sure I can do one of those again so I'll have to take it easy._

As if hearing his thoughts Novus's suddenly jumped back to her feet giving a leap of terror to Raditz's fast pumping heart. She didn't look annoyed or even irritated in the slightest, still only morbidly sad after losing a friend and being forced to do all this against her will. Even now he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Giving him one last look she sprung up and into the air; she was partially fatigued but nowhere near as much as her opponent was. This was it; she'd have to end him now while she had the chance. He stared up as the pretty Vicis began to charge almost all her energy into an attack two hundred feet up in the air, determined to finish him off with this final attack. Wearily he stood and felt the strain on his kneecaps and searing of his wound, but he shrugged it away as a minor annoyance.

Heavenly, golden light poured out from the glowing orb of power forming in Novus's hands. Evidently she still had another ultimate technique she was saving, but so did Raditz. The problem was that while Novus had no doubt mastered her own, Raditz was only in the practicing stage of his own ability and questioned whether he could even pull it off at this stage of weariness.

_No Raditz. You can't have doubts here; you can win, you _have _to win. _The words of the great King Kai ran through his mind.

"_All right I'll show you this technique. But watch closely because I won't do it again. If by some miracle you ever manage to master it use it, only use it as a last resort, and make sure you're in perfect shape since it drains almost all your energy._

And so with a deep sigh, Raditz braced into a rather unusual pose. That was one out of two criteria: he wasn't in top condition under the strain and the wound, but there was no other way so it would have to be a last resort. He stood with both his chest and left foot facing forwards and leaning steeply over like a skateboarder trying to race down a slope at full pelt. He threw back his arms, pushing them right behind him so that they ran parallel to his back leg as he charged familiar red energy into them.

"_Super Kaio-Ken Times Three!"_ he cried, barely faltering as more pain overwhelmed him. He held his position and kept firmly rooted to the ground as speckles of rocks and snow cracked away from the mountain's surface under the pressure. Novus now looked ready to fire her attack and still he charged more energy into his hands behind him; this was it. _I hope I know what I'm doing_.

"_Divine Blaster!" _

"_Kaio-Cannon!" _he screamed.

* * *

_Whew; another long one. In case you're wondering, I'm not going to drag this fight out after this - this is the final attack O.O The next chapter will be more of an interlude and therefore a bit shorter, but once more I have plenty in store for you guys. As for this chapter it was actually one of my favourites to write since I've been planning Novus for quite a while and she's easily my favourite enemy so far. Also Raditz got to haul more ass.  
_

_"Who will win this epic duel of the century? Will Raditz and Vegeta survive their individual battles? What new dangers lie ahead? Will Goku ever show his god-damned face? Does JTX even have a plan for this? Is anyone not reading this in their minds as the voice of the classic narrator? Would Goku win in a fight with Chuck Norris? Why does speaking in rhetoricals sound so wise and intimidating? And did Greedo really shoot first? _Find out in the next exciting installment of DRAGON! - BALL! - Z! -_I mean A.F!_"


	22. Chapter 22 Still Fighting

Chapter 22: Still Fighting

Vegeta readied himself as Decimus neared, fist poised like a baseball bat with the enemy pitching towards him. In what seemed to him like perfect timing, he launched forwards into the punch, hitting nothing but air as the Vicis warped to his side and delivered another heavy blow. At full power Super Saiyan 4 he'd just about managed to make Decimus power up to his maximum. The second those clock hands had started spinning he knew he was in trouble, and since that time he'd been smashed around like an overused piñata. None of his attacks came close to doing any damage, but was he supposed to roll over and die? No. He kept taking the punishment, trying to find some kind of weak spot or vulnerability. That terrifying resolve to succeed had taken over and once again he was paying for his courage with a severe beating.

Decimus had lured him out to a fiery hot volcanic region. Cratered peaks thrust from the ground all around him firing jets of white hot lava from the seams in their incline. The individual volcanoes were linked together by shallow, interconnecting rivers of the same fiery substance, making the whole battleground a deathtrap smoking poisonous fumes that made Vegeta nauseous. It was ironic; he'd come out here in his pride to prove himself wrong – that he wasn't getting too old for this and could still hold his own with the best of them, but unfortunately he seemed to have only backed up his theory.

Decimus turned to walk away after sending his opponent face down in the soot topped charcoal for a sixth time, only to be met by the same sound again of Vegeta back on his feet. The stubborn bastard refused to die.

"Where do you think you're going you overgrown freak!"

* * *

"_Divine Blaster!"_

"_Kaio-Cannon!"_

The two beams, one golden and spiralling and the other a beastly dark crimson flared up from the palms of their masters, connecting with a force that rocked the entire glacial range. Despite the two being usually even under Raditz's triple Super Kaio-Ken, it was clear even from the first connection that it wouldn't be the same here. Raditz immediately felt his arms begin to give way as the golden beam didn't hesitate in overtaking his own in the clash. In a mere second Novus's blast had toppled his own and inhabited the gap by over seventy percent.

"_Super Kaio-Ken Times Four!"_

It was another instinctive cry, one that he'd activated out of a fear of death in seeing the Divine Blaster edge slowly towards him. The second he'd upped the gas his breath escaped him and a world of pain took hold of both his hands and wounded gut. His body was being crushed under the pressure, suffocated of its life force; making Raditz lose consciousness fast. He yelped another cry as he held onto the power – previously he'd activated it for a split second and even that had exhausted him, but if he let it go now he would surely die.

The boost of the quadruple attack gave a significant increase to the Kaio-Cannon, a move that allowed him to channel all the energy used to heighten his reflexes and senses from the Kaio-Ken into one massive blast from the palms. He pushed her back, with the black and red beam of swirling mass slowly working its way back to the half way mark, but it wouldn't be enough. He felt the short burst duration begin to run out on its timer; it would slip away from him soon whether he wanted it to or not and there was only one way to stop it: attempt a five times Super Kaio Ken.

_No! _He debated, grimacing in agony. _I'm not ready! A times five would kill me for sure! But then again THAT thing would kill me. At least I have a slim chance of survival with a times five and I'd take her down with me. But If I can just keep this up a little longer I can win! _He was right; he _was _beginning to overpower the Divine Blaster, but he didn't have nearly enough time left to completely overwhelm her. His beam inched slowly past the fifty/fifty point and would slip away at any second. If it did he'd be left with not even a single Kaio-Ken and it would be game over before he could even blink.

"Ahh screw it!" He cursed. "_Super Kaio-Ken!"_

"What!He's going further! But that'll kill him!" cried Novus.

"_TIMES!_"

"No!"

"_FIVE!"_

It felt as though every thread, every cell and all presence of ki was being ripped from Raditz's body as his technique completely broke down every muscle in his system beyond natural repair. He let out a fearsome war cry that roared even louder than the battling beams to unleash his move and then, vision fading, he let go after pouring his limit into the Cannon. Even the split second burst of the times five was more than enough the bolster his beam like it had a rocket shoved up the rear. He collapsed backwards onto the floor, where even the impact of the padded snow filled him with a pain more unbelievable than any had ever felt. And so he lay there, consciousness fleeting and life deteriorating, watching his adversary go up in a monstrous explosion that would've killed her on impact. It hurt to even speak as it would only hasten his imminent death, but he felt it right to honour his fallen opponent.

"Farewell. . . Novus." With that the warrior fell into an uncomfortable sleep, expecting to wake up at the grizzly sight of the check-in station.

* * *

"R-Raditz. . . _Raditz!_"

Despite being on the cusp of death itself, Raditz was awoken after what felt like an hour to him, but in actuality was a few minutes. He wasn't at the check-in station, or his desired destination of the Room with his friends. He was still on the mountainside, with a horrifying image presented before him. Novus had rose him with a stuttering motorcar of a voice and a quivering hand. For a moment he considered the terrifying possibility that she had somehow dodged and survived; that his sacrifice had been in vain, but that was before he'd opened his eyes and seen what a state she was in. Her right arm and leg had been blasted away along with half her face in a disturbing image for someone who had once been so beautiful. An enormous chunk of her right side was missing, and clearly she'd dragged her mangled body over here with just her left arm. He tried to open his mouth to speak, finding only a pit of sympathy and an effort to fight back tears. He lacked the energy to express himself, but she put her hand to his lips to silence him anyway.

"Listen. . ." she choked, coughing up a cup full of blood before speaking. "Y-. . . Your friend, Vegeta. He is losing his battle with Decimus. . . He will not survive for much longer."

Raditz's eyes widened in fear. "W-" he began, only to find that moving his lips caused incredible agony. But from somewhere deep within, he finally found the energy to speak. "Why would you tell me that?"

Novus said nothing, only sported a guilty face as she cast her eyes to the floor with a look of remorse.

Raditz looked up to the sky. Snow drops began to fall and cool his aching muscles. But that would not save either of them. "I- . . I have to help him." He managed. "Somehow. ."

"Even now on the verge of your death, you would rush to help him?" whispered Novus. Her expression was one of shock; of her surprise at just how much resolve his spirit had.

"I have to be there. ." he continued, finding the energy to only barely move a finger. "He's – my king. The king of all saiyans. I can't sit here and die whilst he needs my help. I. . Have to go."

Novus handled a genuine smile, lopsided thanks to the mess half of her face was in. Her entire life had built up to this moment; no regrets burdened her minds as se made quick decision about what to do: She laid her remaining hand on the flat of his chest and whispered softly.

"Then go."

With those words, Raditz suddenly felt an upsurge of energy. It wasn't much, barely enough for him to move his body, but that tiny sliver would ensure his survival for now. It was only after a few seconds that he realised what was happening; Novus was transferring all her remaining energy into him, as apparently the Divine Blaster hadn't robbed her absolutely.

"Wait- What are you doing? Stop! You'll die!" he protested. He moved a single hand to slap her away, but moving it quickly still ached him far too much to resist.

"It is too late for me, but you Raditz, you can live on."

"Don't do this! There could still be time."

"My body is beyond repair. . . You know that."

Raditz bit his tongue, accepting the difficult truth. "But why?" he asked.

"You fight for the right cause Raditz. Your heart is pure and you've shown me what it is truly like to live without burden. Perhaps one of your number is strong enough to defeat the Master; I know now that if he has his way the whole universe is at risk."

Even in his weakened state he could feel that Novus was tapping into the last reserves of her vital life force. "That's enough, you have to stop!" he cried.

But she never stopped, only continued to pour her complete essence into him. It was a small amount, but to Raditz's weakened state he felt like it was a monstrous waterfall crashingg into his strength. "Please Raditz, let me do this. I've never done anything like this for anyone in my entire life, and when I'm gone from this world I'll be free from the Master's clutches."

Raditz was shocked once again; the fact that this woman was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to escape the service of this 'Master' only enraged him further. This guy must've been one cruel bastard – the kind of monster that the universe didn't need.

"Go now. You've taught me everything I needed to know and more and I hope we see one another in the afterlife someday. I'm not sure what you can do with the energy I've just given you, but anything you can do is better than dying here in this place. Go now and help your ally; it's the least I can do."

Raditz had no words for her at all as his vision went completely bleach white with her using the last of her energy to transport him. To tell her to stop would be an insult to her gesture, and so he could only wish her the best in the afterlife and carry on fighting for her sake alone. "Thank you Novus. I won't forget this." He whispered at last, watching the cool light take over him.

* * *

"Down again Vegeta!" roared Decimus, towering over the floored saiyan. "Only this time I'll make sure you don't get back up!"

Decimus was a beast of a man, towering just shy of the seven foot mark and built like an unstoppable tank. His head was clean shaven and a greedy look of power glinted in his disproportionately tiny eyes. After ascending he'd downed Vegeta at every hit only to have the reluctant saiyan get up again and come at him. Now he saw the error of his ways; he had to eradicate this pest quickly or the Master would scorn him for his immaturity.

"You're powerful Vegeta – maybe you might've been able to defeat Octavius if he was still around, but now all you've got to contend with is me!" he suddenly brought a massive boot down on Vegeta's head to crush him further into the ground. The prince screamed in agony, but his cries only served to motivate the sadistic Vicis, who slowly pressed down harder in his desire to crush Vegeta's skull like a grape. The saiyan was all out of energy to even resist too; he felt the Super Saiyan 4 form slipping away as he lacked the power to even flare out a defence.

This was it; he knew it better than any: he'd be killed for a third time here and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Perhaps he deserved it for not progressing, as it was either adapt or die in this harsh environment. Suddenly though, he felt a flicker of ki not so far away, and grinned in seeing that Decimus hadn't seemed to notice it.

Only a few more moments of agony passed before Vegeta felt the pressure relieved from his bruised head. Raditz had swept in under the Super Saiyan 3 and sent Decimus careering off into the distance with a blindsided kick.

"That should buy us a minute or two, here." Said Raditz. He extended a hand to help the injured Vegeta to his feet, though the saiyan naturally shrugged it aside and got up himself.

_Should've known. _Figured Raditz.

Vegeta nursed a throbbing temple, clicking his jaw before cracking his knuckles to show he was back in the game.

"You're welcome." Quipped a sarcastic Raditz.

The two turned to look at the smoking volcano to their right that Raditz had sent the overgrown brute into. He'd be out of there soon, but at least now he had another saiyan to contend with.

"So, do you _still _think I'm not too old to be doing this?" Vegeta questioned.

Raditz protested. "Vegeta. . ." He wanted to tell him that Decimus was far too powerful for any saiyan or even any mortal to handle on their own, but despite that, he knew it would fall on deaf ears, being as useless as the hand he'd just extended.

"At any rate, we need to figure out a way to finish this guy off fast or neither of us will make it out of here alive."

"How are you holding up?" asked Raditz.

"No better than you are."

Raditz figured he'd done a good job in concealing the crippling wound that dug into his stomach; apparently nothing escaped Vegeta. But there was still something about him, something that told him that that the prince hadn't completely given up hope just yet. "So why are you grinning like that?" he dared to ask.

Vegeta stood up straight, looking proud of himself for his cunning. "Do you remember how many senzu beans we had left?"

"Yeah two, but they're both back at the. . . Room." Raditz trailed off as Vegeta suddenly pulled out the leather brown pouch containing the last two beans. Just the sight of them made his mouth water, as even after the energy transfer his muscles still felt almost completely obliterated. Vegeta fished around in the tiny bag and pulled out the final two, flicking one other to Raditz and wasting no time consuming the other. It wasn't in either of their nature to use senzu beans, but this guy was in such a league of his own that it was the only option at the moment besides death. Normally that would've been Vegeta's preferance but even that would be a selfish with; the two of them were _needed _in this war so they'd have to swallow their pride for now and do whatever it took to win.

Decimus emerged, face filled with a look of hideous rage and oblivious to the fact that his enemy had been completely revitalised.

"Another one!" he realised.

"Alright Raditz don't mess me around here. There's no use hiding your strength anymore since I already know you can become a Super Saiyan 4. If you don't use it we'll die."

Raditz was about to question exactly how Vegeta knew the limits of his strength, but that was a matter for another day, and for now he simply grinned.

With that the two charged up to their pinnacle of the Super Saiyan 4 and headed straight for him. With two of them teaming up the pair easily got the best of Decimus, watching one another's backs and acting as the other's defence to blindside him in case Decimus launched an offensive. Luckily for them this particular Vicis wasn't especially gifted with energy manipulation and so relied on his brute strength in close combat, which wasn't a great tactic when it was two on one. Using the triple Super Kaio-Ken and Vegeta's full power the two were able to push him back, but there was something they'd neglected to consider; they hadn't seen this guy's special ability yet.

They smashed Decimus with a conjoined punch to send him skidding over the sharp rocks, burning his back in one of the lava pits as he slowed. Eventually he got up, standing a mere ten metres away from Vegeta and Raditz looking more intimidating than ever now that they'd joined forces. They'd wasted little of their precious reserves on this guy and worked as efficiently as possible, to make sure that they still had an option open if things went bad; though this was a measure of last resort only.

Decimus wiped a river of blood from a grazed cheek and proceeded to lick it with a disgusting look of madness. He was still confident, meaning that whatever trick he had up his sleeve must've been an impressive one indeed. Without further warning he dropped into a powerful pose and let out a furious roar. It took the pair a few moments to notice, but it soon became apparent that Decimus was growing larger. Much larger.

"Raditz! Let's get him!" instructed Vegeta, sounding desperate.

"Right!" Raditz prepared himself. "_Double Sunday!_"

"_Big Bang Attack!"_

Despite them injecting a considerable amount of ki into their respective abilities, the blasts did little against the growing brute. He now topped over fifteen feet in height and continued to grow, faster every second. It seemed that when he was initiating this technique Decimus became invulnerable to other abilities for its duration, as those same attacks would've at least caused burns a few minutes ago; now he didn't even flinch. Raditz posed for another attack.

"No!" Vegeta suddenly held out a hand across his partner's chest. "You'll only waste your energy. Wait until he's done; I want to see exactly what this guy has to offer."

Along with his physical size Decimus's power also swelled; a side effect which the other techniques they'd seen so far had yet to display. He grew and grew, soon passing the average size of two well endowed houses. But that wasn't their biggest problem: though the two of them combined may have still outmatched him in terms of pure ki levels, his size meant that their individual attacks wouldn't break through his skin or barely do any damage at all. With a final boost he pushed his technique into overdrive, capping off his limit and reaching a height of close to forty metres. Compared to the one and a half metres and almost two metres of Vegeta and Raditz respectively, it seemed that they were outclassed.

His shadow engulfed them as the giant slammed down a fist. He'd sacrificed little speed in his transformation and the enormous size of his fist made it hard to dodge anyway. After pushing themselves though, the two barely managed to scrape away from his attack, fleeing into the sky in opposite directions. Without wasting any time Raditz launched his first attack.

"_Double Sunday!" _

Now that his wound had been healed and energy replenished Raditz was back on top form. Even with that however, the yellow blast only bounced off the surface of Decimus's huge chest harmlessly. In fact it didn't even seem as though he'd noticed it at all.

"HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW VEGETA? IS THIS ALL THAT THE PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS CAN DO?" After transforming Decimus's natural voice contained all the volume of a headache-inducing rock band with amps set to eleven for a crowd of screaming fans. He swung a lumbering whale of an arm that Vegeta barely avoided. As it turned out, that same fist collided with a smaller volcano which suddenly erupted behind him, causing Vegeta to now begin dodging hail of magma rocks before escaping. The pair sped away as fast as their bodies would allow to outrun the giant, and even when the two landed they still weren't sure of whether or not they were within his awesome range.

"We need to think up of some kind of plan; nothing we do can even faze him!" Raditz protested. "Alright, what if I distract him and you try to get as close as-"

"That won't work. You've seen what kind of defences he has; even my most powerful Final Flash would hardly rock him." Vegeta said, regretfully looking down at his hands to show his own powerlessness once again.

"Then what do you suggest, we just give up and die!"

"I never said that; there _is _a way that we could beat him for sure."

"Well, what is it?" demanded Raditz.

Vegeta sighed in reluctance. He hated this technique even more than he did shopping with Bulla, but even he couldn't deny the extreme power it would bestow, especially with two saiyans as the catalysts.

"Do you know the fusion dance?" he asked, regretting his words instantly. But at the end of the day it was the only way they'd make it out of here alive.

"W-With you!" Raditz said, practically squealing in excitement and honoured beyond belief by the gesture. "I get it! Separately we can't harm him but if we combine our bodies we might just be able to get the better of him!"

"Enough! Can you do it or not!" Vegeta snapped impatiently; he knew the mechanics of it better than any and didn't need to hear the cogs turning in Raditz's head aloud.

The saiyan nodded. "I've seen some of your fights on earth and I think Piccolo showed it me once or twice. Don't you start like this? And put your foot like this. ."

"_I don't need a demonstration!_!"

Raditz laughed; apparently seeing someone else do it from the outside only reminded the prince of how silly the dance really looked. "This is gonna be extraordinary; I've never actually done fusion before."

"Yeah whatever, take your damn place."

Decimus towered over and stalked towards the two. He could take his time now that he knew they had no chance of survival. Down below they seemed like ants to him, though he just make out that the two had separated to about a six pace gap. With inflated ears he heard the two begin a chant.

"_Fu. . ."_

He laughed, wondering what kind of bizarre move the two were trying as they moved together in some kind of symmetric jive. Then it hit him.

"_Sion! . ."_

Decimus had seen the footage of Septimus's fight with those two brats; how they'd utilised this same technique and got the best of him right off the bat. As pathetic as they were to him now he doubted their combined strength would be much of a threat, but he had to make sure just in case.

"NOT THIS TIME!" he boomed, launching a fist their way.

Too late.

"_HA!"_

_

* * *

_

_Damn me and my stupid cliffhanger endings; I'm sorry people I really can't resist and it's not going to get any better in the next chapter xD I think the scene near the beginning was actually one of the most emotional I've ever done, at least in this story, and I'd like to think I did it alright. It could've done with a little more depth but then again I was kinda hasty with this chapter since I really wanna do the next one for obvious reasons (Vegeta and Raditz fusion HELL YES!). Novus may be gone but the legendary character is not forgotten and if I ever do a spin off she'll definitely have a bigger role, maybe even as a regular (take from that what you will :P) This should've been up yesterday but (and here's some shameless advertising) I went to see Inception. Dude, see that film: Mind bogglingly fantastic_.


	23. Chapter 23 Return to Battle!

Chapter 23: Return to Battle

The room-sized fist slammed down with all the intensity and force of a jet-propelled stampede. Decimus put all the hundreds of tonnes of his weight into that one downhill straight and hit his mark perfectly. But there was a problem: He'd smashed right into the two fighters cleanly, though instead of pummelling them far into the ground something else happened. He never felt his oversized knuckles scrape the volcanic surface or dig into the rock face along with his opponents. His hand had simply stopped in its tracks when he'd reached them, but because of its bulk concealing the two he had no idea what had actually happened. Was he being held back?

A single fighter stood alone atop the rocks, not minding at all that a river of blazing hot magma flowed not so far behind him and a giant's fist had crashed down upon him. He stood firm. With one hand the saiyan had stopped the attack without so much as flinching. Calmly he jerked his entire body, and in a single flash had driven his free fist into the enormous middle finger that was as tall as himself. Decimus recoiled, crying a pained noise that almost deafened the saiyan whilst at the same time retreating back his meaty fist to get a look at him.

The lone saiyan stood poised and ready for action, as clearly the two had succeeded in uniting their bodies in perfect harmony. He wore the determined scowl of the saiyan prince whilst sporting a cocky grin that only Raditz pulled off so well. Despite his definitive appearance though; his hairstyle stood out most of all. A steep widow's peak etched onto his forehead rising up into a high array of jagged spikes signalling his characteristics of Vegeta, though after that enormous rise it carried on backwards, receding its way down his back in a shaggy mane that made him a bizarre sight to behold at first.

Without thinking twice he ascended. All the way past the first three levels of Super Saiyan he climbed until capping off at the pinnacle of the fourth and presenting a warrior like none had ever seen before. He kept the reddish fur that he'd inherited from both fighters and adopted a pair of leather pants complete with Raditz's stripe down only the left leg. The hair had receded to a lesser, yet more stylised version of its regular self so that it did not impede his combat ability. His eyes opened, aflame with a bursting orange glow to give him a look completely unique to his own fusion combination.

"Eight minutes in this form?" he muttered to himself, calculating the amount of time he had left. "I could finish him in two."

"WHAT WAS THAT JUST NOW! WHO ARE YOU? HOW DID YOU STOP MY ATTACK!" boomed Decimus.

The saiyan cringed at the unnecessary volume of the brute's voice and replied up to him, with his voice sporting a fused tone of the two fighters. "Simple: You're all brawn; your size doesn't match your power level. You think that just because you've increased your mass that your power somehow completely follows suit, but let me tell you now that _I'm _the one with the power here, and I'm about to show it to you right now." He slowly lifted up from the ground, soon coming on line with Decimus's face.

"WHAT! OBNOXIOUS FOOL!" The Vicis suddenly swung an enormous hook, one that was sloppy and fuelled by anger, but nevertheless accurate. It closed in fast on the unnamed warrior though a fraction of a second before impact the saiyan had warped away. He landed atop the stilling fist that had been aimed at him and begun walking up the massive forearm towards his foe.

"WHAT'S THIS-"

"As for my name. . ." Cut off the man, as despite being immeasurably smaller and less threatening he could still silence the man with quieter words.

Decimus had heard enough. He aimed his free hand at the man in an attempt to swat him away like an annoying gnat, but he'd disappeared again and before he could act had somehow drove a fist into his swinging elbow.

"_Vegeditz!" _he roared, punctuating the attack and driving his fist further in. The exposed bone at the elbow felt like reinforced titanium to his knuckles, but it was still a breakable object to the mighty Vegeditz. Due to their enormous size he _felt _every shard of the bone smashing to pieces under the impact of his strike, hitting with such an awesome ferocity that the giant's arm snapped back, bending back at the elbow the wrong way in what looked and felt like a painful ordeal. Vegeditz braced himself for the howling scream that pitched through the air like a supersonic blast, blowing away smoke from one of the nearby volcanoes. He had a right to be in pain; Vegeta had endured it before and knew just how painful a break like that really was, but this Vicis made such a scene, stamping his feet and screaming at the top of his overinflated lungs. He carried on for what must've been a full minute, and taking note of this to add to his time constraints, Vegeditz decided to act.

"_Shut up!" _he barked. Decimus hadn't even heard his cry over the wailing, but he did indeed feel the enormous punch slamming into him right below the chest. The shot dug right between the ribs and smashed his lungs, knocking all breath away from him and leaving him with a huge mark as a reminder. He slowly fell to the floor and collapsed clutching his stomach with his one working arm.

"Finally, you're quiet." Scorned Vegeditz with a mocking that he'd inherited from the prince. "I could hardly hear myself over all that worthless blubbering."

"YOU. . ." he gasped, getting to one knee. "I'LL KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO: I'LL TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB AND MAKE YOUR FREINDS AND ENTIRE FAMILY WATCH BEFORE I DO THE SAME TO THEM!"

Vegeditz grinned as he hovered ominously above the struggling giant. "It's a shame: I was considering leaving you alive since you're not worth my energy to kill, but no one threatens my family and lives to tell the _tale!_" he followed through on the final word and landed a kick right on the Vices' face to knock him back down to a lying position. Another squeal filled the air as he'd apparently burned his left ear in a lava pool upon landing, and so upon reflex he was back onto his knees. His ear was a melted, dripping mess, like a wax man left next to an oven, and Vegeditz could take the time to observe these minor details even as Decimus's looping punch closed in.

The fused saiyan had only to hold out a single hand to block the punch once again. Despite Decimus's constant pushing against the smaller arm Vegeditz didn't look to be showing much effort. He made eye contact with the Vicis and a single grin was all that it took to warp Decimus's expression onto one of the utmost fear. Suddenly, Vegeditz pushed his hand away and broke the struggle in an instant, needing both hands to press them together and rapidly channel a vast amount of ki.

"_Super Kaio-Ken Times Five!" _he barked. As the crimson aura engulfed him it soon became apparent that Vegeditz's power was more than enough to handle this technique at such a high rate, as he barely flinched as the power took over. Had he pushed it, he might've even got it as high as nine or ten thanks to his ridiculously strong ki.

"_Final Sunday!"_

The combination of both techniques blasted from the gloved palms of the determined Vegeditz. It was only in unleashing his ultimate attack that he'd shown even a glimmer of effort, and even that was enough to completely obliterate this adversary. Thanks to Raditz's Double Sunday and Vegeta's Final Flash both being relatively similar in terms of colour, the beam followed suit and manifested itself as a brilliant golden light, flaring out into a size equal to that of Decimus from the waist up to engulf him instantly.

The fact that the world around him transformed into a pearly white substance told Vegeditz that Decimus had been defeated and that his work here was done. He was teleported away just as they felt the heat of the explosion chasing towards him, and ended up back on the same plain he'd stepped foot on as two separate beings. He turned, orange eyes fixed firmly on the confused group of fighters standing back on the veranda. They stared intently at the fusion-made saiyan, all with identical looks that said: _Is that who I think it is!_

Vegeditz sported another cocky grin and lifted a white gloved hand to his face before snapping his fingers loudly, and with that the two separated. Powered down to their basic forms and breathing heavily in effort, the two were thrown from a basic puff of golden smoke to the canyon floor.

"That was awesome!" Raditz gasped, turning to put up a high five which was not returned.

Vegeta only sported an irritated look as his fusion partner was practically shaking with excitement.

"Hang on, was that-" began Gohan, but Vegeta cut him off, looking exasperated as ever.

"Yes." He sighed reluctantly.

"And did you-"

"Yes."

Raditz got up, still beaming with joy. "Ooh! Can we do it again!"

"No."

Still laughing, Raditz made his way back to the first step of the room; though as he moved to lift a foot his vision suddenly blacked and he found himself in freefall. Tien charged forwards to catch the falling saiyan and it was only after pulling him up that he realised that Raditz had collapsed completely.

"Let him be." growled Vegeta, stepping up onto the room and wiping the sweat from his brow. "He's been through the rough today; he needs rest."

"Right." Tien proceeded to sit Raditz's sleeping form comfortably in one of the armchairs nearby and fetch some water for when he would finally rise. For a while the fighters stood in a cold, awkward silence.

"So what now?" asked Uub eventually.

* * *

Duodecimus grovelled atop the cracked spire not three miles away from the Room of Spirit and Time. His master had been less than pleased with the results he'd gotten so far and it was only a matter of time before his wrath was manifested physically. Once again the swirling vortex of dark mass loomed above the tower, only this time it cackled and hissed more chaotically than before, and the face that had formed within looked angry to say the least.

"M-M-Master, please. It was just a miscalculation; they shouldn't have been able to beat Novus and Decimus." The man bowed his head to the floor, fearful of looking up into that terrifying expression.

"_They should not have been able to defeat any of my creations, what happened to them not being able to pass beyond even the sixth of the Vices?"_

"My lord it appears they have proven to be more resourceful and powerful than we originally anticipated." Decimus reasoned.

"_How much more powerful?" _

"Not enough to defeat Unidecimus and I of course Master!"

"_Interesting. You claim this yet you have spouted the same thing to me the last four times we have engaged them._"

Duodecimus looked horrified, as though he feared the master would extend a great bony hand to destroy him if he uttered a single word wrong.

"_Go now and defeat them. And I don't care where he is; if the next time you return to me both Goku and the Vessel are not in your possession you will pay the ultimate sacrifice for your treasonous behaviour."_

"Y-Yes my lord, right away! Thank you Master!"

With that final bidding Duodecimus scarpered back down the enormous ramp of the spire's roof with his tail between his legs. For a man wielding such power, the master had made him feel like a weakling before him. He entered the confines of the dimly lit building, hands still shaking whilst buckets of sweat dripped from all over his body. Suddenly, he heard footsteps lightly splashing the steps below and instantly switched over his demeanour.

"Duodecimus, is something the matter?"

The Vicis looked ahead. Unidecimus had entered; a hollow husk of a being who'd never shown anything vaguely resembling an emotion in his lifetime. Only a blank, empty expression was constantly shown from him that would haunt your dreams if you'd fought him and somehow survived.

"Nothing!" Duodecimus snapped as he straightened himself up. "The Master is growing impatient; we must get Goku soon if we are to not incur his wrath."

"I was just about to say the same thing."

Upon his words Unidecimus's frozen eyes turned to a tall bay window to his left, a feature that made the place seem like something from a gothic horror film to any earthlings. He gave a nod to his commander and under that simple cue the two of them took flight, bursting through the window in an explosion of serrated glass and taking off towards the Room.

* * *

As the two ki signals popped up on the horizon each of the Z-Fighters felt a flash of their power like a sixth sense and turned towards the source. The final two Vices had taken off from the top of the tower and closed in fast. It was enough to make even a groggy Raditz launch up from his slumber, wearily getting to his feet and looking paler than usual.

"What now is that I think it's time Gotenks and I have a turn!" said Gohan in a direct response to Uub's question.

"Don't be absurd." Spoke a gruff voice. The group all turned to Vegeta as he continued. "You'll be crushed in an instant; we need to find a way out of here."

"Yeah well there's no way of knowing how long till the next shift and we've tried every other way out, so unless you've got a better idea we're going in. You two ready?"

"Yeah!" sounded the cries of Trunks and Goten.

Even as the two yelled the annoying chant of 'fusion ha!' Vegeta knew that no other option remained, but he also knew that those two didn't stand a chance against the higher level Vices. Gohan powered up to his maximum strength and Gotenks mirrored, sporting those bright blue eyes they'd seen before in his Super Saiyan 4 form in the fight against Septimus.

"You boys stop." Managed Raditz. Shocked eyes turned now to him as he struggled to stand. "Please, Vegeta's right: you don't stand a chance against them. If they're worse than the guys we fought then there's nothing any of us can do, fused or alone."

"Well they've powered up before they came out here, I can sense their power and I'm pretty sure I can take them!" Gohan reassured.

"No." Raditz stepped forwards, placing a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "They haven't concentrated their power yet; that's their most basic strength."

Gohan barely managed to stifle a gasp; the idea that someone could be _that _powerful without increasing their ki terrified him, but the saiyan blood buried within him was itching for a fight. Now that he'd set his mind on it he would not be dissuaded. "Well I still think I could handle one. I'm going after them." The man prepared to take a step off the Room and onto the canyon before he was silenced by the only person who could stop him: Piccolo.

"Wait a second. If we step onto the surface we'll be dragged into a one on one fight. Why don't we bide our time and wait here, then if we're forced into a fight we can rush them together. I don't see any better way if we're looking to survive."

"But wouldn't we risk destroying the Room if we fought them here?" questioned Tien.

Piccolo shook his head. "Not likely. They've said before that they need the Room as a kind of transport system, and the Elder Kai told me it was now a fixed point in the universe and so can't be destroyed by natural means. Even if that's the case I doubt they'd risk damaging it."

After gritting his teeth in reluctance Gohan retreated his hovering foot back onto the Room's surface. Gotenks followed his lead too as the group looked over at just how close the Vices were.

Unidecimus and Duodecimus were now clearly visible, moving in at high speeds and would be upon them within thirty seconds or so.

_Even if this goes according to Piccolo's plan, _figured Vegeta, _we'll be lucky if even one of us escapes alive._

The fighters dropped into respective stances, some moderately powering up and some frozen to the spot in fear. Raditz looked far too tired to even throw a punch after what he'd endured today, though he remembered thinking that Vegeditz might've made a difference if he'd still been up for it. The Vices closed in as the fighters put on their game faces; it was now or never, they'd be here in ten seconds.

_Bring it on! _Thought Gotenks, unaware of the danger. Nine.

_I sure hope Piccolo knows what he's doing._ Gohan wondered. Eight.

Vegeta's turn: _We don't stand a chance; from the power gaps in their ranks that we've already fought those two should be in a league of their own. _Seven.

_If this goes wrong we're all dead anyway. _Piccolo considered. Six.

_Nice knowing you guys. Well, it was all worth it. _Raditz only sighed as he threw in the towel. Five.

Five seconds and they'd be here. The seven fighters prepared for the worst, but that was before something miraculous happened. A flash of distorted air presented itself at the head of the room and now a man had materialised before them, clad in his trademark orange gi and sporting a goofy smile below a mass of wild black hair.

No feeling in the world compared to the euphoric elation experienced by every single fighter upon the man's sudden appearance; their saviour had arrived. A feeling of warmth blanketted them and touched the hearts of even the most macho of the fighters, as the man seemed to glow with a radiant golden light that affected everyone he'd ever been in contact with. Nothing mattered anymore, as long as they had their valiant prodigy it was like they feared nothing under his protective shadow.

"Hey guys!" cried Goku suddenly. As the fighters watched in shock he held up a small shaft of wood and manipulated its core so that that it extended and bent slightly around the seven so that it made contact with each of them. The Power Pole had few practical uses against the kinds of foes presented to them now, though thanks to its flexibility in less than a second the saiyan was able to touch each of his comrades. He then extended two fingers to his forehead and as quickly as he'd appeared he'd vanished again, this time taking the whole crew with him into another dimension.

* * *

_Yes people; the moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived. After 23 full chapters the legendary Goku_, _the MAIN CHARACTER of the series has finally entered the fray, and not a second too soon either. The guy sure does like to make an entrance doesn't he? Also, in case you couldn't tell by the last few paragraphs this isn't just another random one of his appearances, he's in it full time now and ready to kick some ass. _

_Anyway onto Vegeditz. The guy is officially now my favourite fusion character in this series, I mean he's just unbelievably badass from what I envision and hopefully portray. I was asked before from a reader on why I picked that specific name and really it's because the alternative would be 'Radgeta' or 'Rageta' or something along those lines, which is alright but it just sounds a little too much like 'Gogeta' and I really wanted the two to be different. Oh and a final thing that should've really been in the last one but I just forgot to put it. Some of you may have actually noticed it but the character of Novus, while being unique and looking and acting very little like her, was kinda similar to Number 18. Novus is number 9, and what's double 9? Of course, Number 18, the only other female antagonist in Dragon Ball Z - just a bit of trivia for you there.  
_


	24. Chapter 24 Third Dimension

Chapter 24: Third Dimension

Feeling the lurch of Goku's instant transmission technique still brought a lump to the throats of those who hadn't regularly experienced it. Thankfully none of them were sick after the teleportation, though Raditz looked like he was about to keel over and die after feeling that sensation along with everything else he'd endured on this day. But things couldn't have been better right now; they were safe for the time being and Goku had returned to them to protect the group once again. During the transmission Gotenks had also split up into his two individuals.

"Dad!" cried Goten as he, Gohan and Uub threw themselves into the arms of the grown man. Their visions of him had not been inaccurate; he was back to full size and with it would no doubt be at the peak of his strength, looking not a day over twenty five. He beamed and raised his eyebrows in a goofy surprise as he accepted the embrace of his sons and the one remaining boy who he had practically adopted as one anyway. He looked up to catch a look at the fighters in turn.

"Piccolo! Hey, you're looking well! How'd you escape hell anyway?" he asked.

"It's a long story, something that can wait for now."

Goku laughed a brief 'okay' and turned to another. "Trunks! How've you been?"

"Ah, same as usual." Trunks replied. While he was much calmer than the three goofballs swarming the orange clad saiyan, he could barely suppress his joy to see Goku and sported a wide, pleasant smile.

"Tien! Whoa! I didn't expect you to be here!"

"Hey, you guys aren't leaving me behind that easily; I can still fight with the best of you." Replied the only human present.

"I'll bet you can!" Goku looked around the group, finding it difficult to take in just how many fighters of all different ages and races had gathered in his absence. He should've expected no less from his own friends, least of all from the man he turned to next. "Hey Vegeta!"

Vegeta sported an amused grin for only a second before he warped away and a loud smash had filled the air before the Z-Fighters' eyes could even take it in. The saiyan had materialised at high speeds to land a massive punch onto his ally's face, knocking Goku out of the grasp of his family and friends and skidding across the floor face first.

"_That's _for taking your precious time! We could've been killed while you were off playing around and only _now _you show up!" he barked, now standing over the man and looking significantly more annoyed than usual.

Goku rubbed a single hand to the red mark forming on his left cheek, looking up into the hostile eyes of the saiyan prince. He had a point after all; he'd left them to fend off ten incredibly powerful enemies all usually stronger than themselves. The two continued their heated stare-down with Goku convinced that the Vegeta would crack at any moment. He did.

Vegeta's face fell back into a grin as he showed a vague hint of softening. "But you're here now and I guess that's what matters; I can't say I'm not glad you're back, and I've no doubt that your absence was necessary in the grand scheme of things." He offered a hand, and Goku accepted it as the prince pulled him up, grinning back with mutual respect.

"Glad to be back, old friend." Goku replied. The two had a complex relationship that had reformed even within these few minutes of their reintroduction; sometimes they fought over minor details like an old married couple, but at other times they appeared to be best of friends, albeit reluctantly on Vegeta's part. Their intense rivalry had surpassed that of a passing competition and with every new challenge it became incredibly fierce while never breaking apart that odd friendship the two harboured.

After that brief scare of another brawl between the saiyans, the two turned back to the others and Goku's eyes fell upon the one person he hadn't yet addressed; a long haired man with his eyes cast to the floor, shuffling nervously and attempting to hide behind Piccolo. Any normal man would've run for the hills or charged the saiyan straight on after experiencing the same thing Goku had endured with him on his last appearance. Then again, Goku was no normal man. He pointed an inquisitive finger and sported an innocent, curious expression.

"Is that. . . Raditz?" he asked, remembering the name of his long lost brother.

"Yeah." Raditz stepped forwards, still cringing with an awkward expression and refusing to make eye contact with his younger brother.

It wasn't just blind trust on Goku's part; he knew from the fact that the rest of the group were calmly standing with him that Raditz had now earned his place. If he'd managed to earn the trust both Piccolo and Gohan after what he'd put them through then in his mind he was more than ready for a second chance. It had been around forty years ago after all; he supposed Raditz had much time for reflection in hell.

"Well are you just gonna stand there?"

"Huh?" Raditz finally looked up into Goku's eyes to see that a warm-hearted smile was spread across his face and a hand of friendship extended. Timidly, he took it with an awkward grin. "I don't know how you can be like that after everything I did. . ."

Goku's face suddenly hardened into one of his more serious expressions, the kind he sported when you knew he'd quit goofing around for a second and meant business. He clasped a firm hand on Raditz's shoulder and looked him dead in the eyes with a stone cold look of graveness. "If you say you're one of us then that's good enough for me."

"I'm one of you." Raditz's words came without hesitation as his brother's face lit up once again and the two shared an embrace with Raditz close to tears. Finally his mission of clearing his name had been fully accomplished; gaining the respect of the others was good enough, but to receive acknowledgement of his turncoat from the man that mattered most to him was better than any feeling he'd ever experienced until now. He knew now that if he died once again in this savage war he could go without regrets.

"Goku," started Piccolo as soon as the two parted. "I hate to ruin the moment, but we really need to talk."

Goku's face grew stern again. He nodded in agreement. "I know. Tell me everything that's happened to you guys since I left."

And so Piccolo and the rest of the Z-Fighters went through the long story of how the whole ordeal had started with a father and son training year in the Room and had evolved into the next threat that had called the fighters to action whether they be active or retired, young or old, human or saiyan and dead or alive. They described each fight they'd encountered with the Vices and how they'd overcome each one with a mixture of tact, skill and to a certain extent, luck. Goku listened intently, as despite usually being unable to hold an interest in anything for longer than a few seconds, he knew that this information would be vital and was actually keen to find out just what had happened during the whole affair of the Room.

"So that's the end of it. We were about to engage the last two Vices when you showed up and bailed us out." Finished Piccolo.

Goku nodded understandingly.

"But Dad," started Gohan. "Why did you transmit us away from them? We were just about to take them on and I-"

"Would've been killed for sure." Goku finished his son's sentence for him and a number of shocked expressions followed after him upon his out of character bluntness.

Gohan clenched his fist tightly in frustration as all three of the pure-blooded saiyans had now told him the exact same thing; that he was no match for the last two Vices, and its repetition was beginning to annoy him.

"I know you don't want to hear it son, but that's the truth." said Goku, sounding much more sympathetic than when Vegeta had told him five minutes ago. "Those Vices are in a class of their own. I doubt that even I could stop them both, and I can only imagine how powerful their master must be."

"Sounds like you're scared, Kakarot." Taunted Vegeta.

"Heh, more excited than scared," Goku confessed. "but one guy at a time; we have to take out the Master's last guards before we can get to the guy himself."

"So you know of these Vices?" Piccolo asked.

"Yeah." Goku said with a nod. "Shenron told me about them and that strange legend about the Master. He told me when one of them was defeated by you guys but he never told me who exactly who was fighting, he only allowed me to project images of myself to a friend of _his _choosing to show you guys I was still alright."

"Which was why you were surprised when you saw us all here." presumed Piccolo. It also explained the eerie appearances of him that had gone on within the ranks of the Z-Fighters.

"Exactly."

"But Goku!" Tien had stepped forwards, addressing a major issue that the fighters seemed to have forgotten about. "What about the Room? We've left it with them! Can't they manipulate it and make their escape whenever they want?"

Goku considered his words carefully, as even he didn't fully understand the mechanics of the room despite Shenron telling him countless times. He shook his head. "Like you guys had to, they have to wait for the next shift to cross over into our dimension."

"But we knocked out all the hourglasses, so we don't know when the next shift is!"

"You don't, but I do. Since they have the same master of Dende, Shenron has a bigger understanding of the Room than the room than any of us." Goku beamed cheerily before holding up two fingers. Trunks thought he was displaying a gesture of peace before the man elaborated. "Two weeks! That's all the time we've got."

"But shouldn't we make sure we take care of them _before_ that happens?" reasoned Tien.

"Yeah, which is why a week from now Vegeta and I are going to make a full assault on their tower!" he revealed his plan so cheerily and nonchalantly that you'd think he was planning a picnic.

Vegeta flashed a look of suspicion towards his rival with a hundred different thoughts racing through his mind. _Why me? _He wondered. _Why did he ask only me and not Gohan or Piccolo or Raditz? Is he worried about the others? What are you up to Kakarot? _Nevertheless, the Prince's pride and battle-hungry appetite simply would not allow him to refuse, though as he expected, the others only complained.

"Hey, that's not fair!" exclaimed Gohan. "We've come all this way and battled them while you've been absent, so why is it that only you and Vegeta get a shot at them! I don't care what you say; I for one am coming with you!"

Goku panicked, sporting a comedic look of alarm as the others joined in on the protest. His reasoning was sound as the danger was far too extreme, but he simply could not say no to them in good conscience.

"Alright alright!" he yelled, giggling slightly in all the commotion. His expression then grew stern once again. "But you have to promise me that you'll take a backseat if things get tough, alright?"

The others nodded in agreement.

"Okay. So we can spend the night here and get rested up, then in the morning I'll take us back to earth for the rest of the week."

Again the fighters agreed, but Goten had yet another question. "Uh, Dad, where exactly _is_ here?" He'd seen it before; both he and Piccolo had seen this place in the void of one of the room's shifts and it was only now that the group got over the return of Goku and took a second to take in their surroundings.

They were settled into a great hall of enormous proportions, with pillars the girth of oak trees sprouting from the mirror sparkling steel flooring, and protruding all the way up to the roof way above them. Whatever this place was, it couldn't have been designed for humans and was clearly the residency of something much, much bigger.

"This is where Shenron lives." Goku revealed. "It's in his own dimension which is completely different to both ours and the Vices'. He's out right now but he said it would be alright for you guys to stay here when I asked him earlier." He began to lead the two off towards a door that led to the bedrooms when Piccolo suddenly intervened.

"Wait, so Shenron's here?"

"Yeah." Goku said with a nod. "What's up Piccolo?"

"Well it's been a year – I know we're not allowed the Dragon Balls anymore but is there any chance we could get an extra wish!" The namekian was secretly hoping that Shenron would be able to destroy the Room and seal the Vices away forever. It wouldn't have worked with the namekian balls because a Dragon only had the power to destroy something that their master also could. But since Dende was both the guardian _and _the creator of the Room then it should've been within the Dragon's power to do something about it. Once again though, Piccolo's idea was cut short by Goku's idiocy. The saiyan sported a bashful look of embarrassment and dropped back into a goofy act, putting a single hand behind his head and scratching it nervously.

"Uhh yeah, about that! Well you see, um, the thing with that is that the Dragon told me a few months ago that he had restored some of his energy and had enough to grant a very small wish, and he wanted to give it to me since I've been a good student."

"That's great. We can use that wish to destroy the Room!" Said Piccolo, sounding as excited as he ever could be. Something about Goku's nervous laughing though, told him that it was too good to be true.

"Well uh, yeah, you see the thing about that is, um. . ." Goku cringed as all the curious, judgemental eyes turned to him. "I kind of used it." He said, finally peeking an eye open to see Piccolo's forehead meet his palm and an irritated look spread across his face.

"Do I even want to know what you used the wish on?" he asked as he struggled to maintain his composure.

"Umm. . ." Goku gave another awkward laugh.

* * *

_Two months ago_

Chi-Chi awoke to the warm Spring's light pouring in through the blinds and onto her waste of a double bed. She got up slowly as usual, though was vaguely surprised to find that while she got dressed her body seemed to react much faster, feeling lighter and requiring much less effort to move. She thought nothing of it though, and figured that she must've just had a particularly fresh morning with more sleep than usual. It was only as she entered the bathroom to wash up did she truly notice the frightening change. A stiff breeze rolled through the open window and pricked up the hairs on her slender neck and for once she seemed to enjoy the serenity of living alone without a martial artist husband and two uncontrollable grown kids. She washed her face quickly and took a gulp of mouthwash straight from the bottle, and only then did she catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

The bottle of mouthwash clattered to the floor as a high pitched scream ran through the countryside. Had she not lived in the middle of nowhere then neighbours would've expected some kind of attacker or worse trying to get their paws on the defenceless old woman, though they'd be wrong on both all three accounts. Firstly, it was a scream of shock warping into one of ecstatic glee. Secondly, thanks to her combat training Chi-Chi was about as defenceless as her husband. And finally, she was no longer an old woman - upon looking in the mirror she'd noticed that her face and indeed entire body seemed to have regressed into one of her youthful beauty. The woman now looked no older than her mid-twenties and it could only be the work of her beloved husband to bestow her with such a priceless gift. After fainting dramatically for a full ten minutes she scrambled out of the room and ran straight to the only phone in the modest house to ring up the first person that came to mind.

Only a single ring sounded in Chi-Chi's ear that felt like an eternity before the blue haired woman picked up with a 'hello' that sounded just as excited.

"Bulma you're not going to _believe _what's happened!"

"Is it that you suddenly look thirty years younger and you have no idea why!" cried Bulma.

"Wait, how do you-"

"It's happened to me too!" she revealed, taking no lengths to hide her joy.

"Oh my God really! This is so great! We're young again!"

"I know, can you believe it! I can't wait till Vegeta sees me like this!"

And so for the next six hours the women stayed squealing in excitement over the phone, completely oblivious to how or why this new development had happened, though each had a hunch that Goku had something to do with it. Chi-Chi told Bulma all about her suspicions of his return and she expected that her restored youth was his way of giving them both a return gift and a reward for his training, for in another dimension completely untouched by human or alien hands, Goku had been undergoing the most brutal education he'd ever been subjected to.

* * *

"Sooo that's how that happened!" stated Goku merrily. His hands slightly trembled and his nervous laugh went an octave higher as he saw throbbing vein of frustration form on the namekian's left temple.

Piccolo was clenching his fists so tightly that marks of his purple blood formed at the base of his palms. He was usually a calm, collected man of few words, but few things annoyed him as much as Goku's non-serious attitude in the face of a threat. "You idiot! We could've used that wish to destroy the room and end this whole thing right now!"

"But I want to fight them Piccolo. . ." Goku moaned weakly.

"So you'd put the whole world in danger! This could be finished right now but you had to go and do something stupid like rejuvenating your wife!"

"Rejuvenating. . ." Goku scratched his head again and gave an absent look of confusion. "What's that mean?"

Piccolo only snarled in irritancy. He refused to play Goku's game and only continued to get more annoyed as Trunks leaned over and whispered to Goku.

"He means restoring her youth." He aided.

"Oh!" Goku realised, and was back in the debate once again. "Well I thought it'd be alright. I mean, they always complain about how much older they look compared to us and Shenron said he could only grant us a tiny wish."

"You still didn't have to use it so stupidly! That's the kind of wish you used to try and _stop _people from making!" Piccolo insisted.

"Chill out Piccolo, it's not like _they're_ trying to take over the world." Goku laughed again to try and calm the mood. "And I didn't give them eternal life or anything, I just put them back to an age that looks similar to ours. I know it's hard to understand but just think about it; we're the people who always save the Earth and these are the people who keep us going. At this rate we'll outlive them and we'd be nothing without them."

"I hate to admit it namek, but Kakarot's got a point." Interjected Vegeta.

Piccolo growled. "You're only saying that because he made _your _wife younger as well!"

"You really think _I'd_ act so immaturely!" the saiyan suddenly raised his voice as though he was genuinely offended that Piccolo would even suggest such a thing, like the very thought of it was insulting to him beyond belief.

The namek was stunned at Vegeta's apparent anger, and not wanting to get into a debate with the prince of all saiyans he quickly backed off. "No I uh- I guess not. Sorry Vegeta."

"You'd better be." Warned the prince as Piccolo turned his back. One vague grin at Goku was all it took to tell him that Vegeta hadn't been entirely truthful. Goku only just managed to stifle a laugh and then made for the head of the group to show them to their rooms for the night.

After this they'd have six days on Earth to do whatever it was they pleased, so the tired Z-Fighters retired to the roomy, otherworldly dorms that Goku had led them to. They had left the hall into a hallway and there seemed to be a million of them off different doors along the never ending corridor, in fact it was so long that none of them could see the end of it and trying to look down it far enough gave them a headache. The physics here were different; for once the gravity was lighter, something that would soften Goku up if anything, though Vegeta was sure that there was some kind of gravity control device here for Kakarot to attain maximum intensity. He hadn't let it on to any of the others, but from even from his stance the prince could tell that Goku had gotten more powerful in his time here, and it was made increasingly apparent when Goten asked him why he was back to full size. He responded by telling them that the 'conditions' here had forced his body to get tougher on its own, and by 'conditions' Vegeta surmised that he meant the training. How much stronger Goku had gotten exactly was another question altogether, and one that Vegeta knew he wouldn't answer truthfully even if he'd asked him. But for now the questions could wait; they'd had a long day and each deserved a well earned rest to be prepared for the welcoming home tomorrow before it was back to training for the lot of them.

* * *

_Yaaay, three cheers for Goku! That guy is harder to write than I thought he'd be - actually I think he's tied with Vegeta for the hardest character to write. Seriously, he'll just be dicking around one minute and being all macho and serious the next. I guess that's anime for you in a nutshell, but Goku_'s _probably the biggest culprit for those tone shifts if you don't count Vash the Stampede. anyway in honour of this glorious milestone here's a small scene for you guys:_

_-_Cue epic music-

-Smoke clears-

(turning to Vegeta) Nappa: Vegeta! What does the scouter say about the amount of words in Dragon Ball AF!

(crushing the scouter) Vegeta: IT'S OVER 90'000!

Nappa: WHAT 90'000! There's no way that can be right! CAN IT!


	25. Chapter 25 Calm Before the Storm

Z Chapter 25: Calm Before the Storm

That night the others dropped like a log, wrapped snugly in their double layered quilts atop circular beds that showed the dragon's apparent lack of knowledge of the human world. Vegeta lay still in contemplation as he held his hand out to his face once more. Despite having all the power in the world he felt powerless, and the feeling had grown even worse now that he'd deduced that Kakarot had grown more powerful. His progress had slowed dramatically with him being mere days away from the absolute pinnacle of the Super Saiyan 4. Part of him didn't want it to come, but the other side that valued training and winning above all else would push him to that limit. After that he'd stop growing and would no doubt linger and lose his touch, watching helplessly as the younger generation surpassed him. He wasn't bitter about that – hell, the idea of Trunks one day becoming stronger than he was would make him proud beyond belief, but the fact that he'd hit this natural limit when Kakarot's seemed to surpass his own was infuriating to say the least. His whole life up until now had been about getting stronger; a routine part of what made up that indomitable character of a man. With it suddenly disappearing he'd become lost and without purpose; a hollow shell with no reason to continue.

Eventually he got up silently, heading for the door that noiselessly swung open in his mere presence and making his way into the grand hall, which was dimly lit from the floor tiles reflecting sullen rays from the five surrounding moons. An enormous set of double doors loomed ominously at the end, and so in his bid to get some fresh air the prince crossed the lengthy hallway. He had to reach up on his tiptoes to reach the handle; though once he did his regular strength was more than enough to force the massive thing open.

An increase in gravity suddenly hit the prince like a wind rushing in, knocking him to one knee and filling his bones with lead as he struggled to stay up. Instinctively he powered up to the fourth level in a flash to straighten out his posture but even then his breathing quickened and his muscles felt a strain. _Ah, so this is where you've been training Kakarot. _He deduced. Vegeta reckoned the gravity must've been close to eight hundred and fifty times the Earth's natural pressure – a level he hadn't even dared to try yet but to his surprise found it less difficult than he'd imagined.

A vast stretch of cratered rocks like the surface of a moon shone golden like the glow of the Dragon Balls or the hair of a Super Saiyan underneath the pale moonlight. Even the newborn planet they'd visited recently didn't hold a candle to the wondrous beauty of Shenron's world. Vegeta had never been particularly sentimental or appreciative of anything creative, but even he stopped still for a few moments just to take in the awesome eccentricity of this place. After that he set off, feeling Kakarot's energy source somewhere not too far away on the surface.

* * *

"You are sure about this?" questioned Shenron, towering over the lone saiyan and filling the sky before him.

Goku nodded. "I'm sorry Shenron; it's been a great time training here with you, but now I really have to go. You said I could leave once my training was complete."

"And I keep my word." The dragon's voice echoed around the brilliant golden canyon as the biggest surround-sound system in the universe. "Just promise me you'll come back here some day; you're a promising student."

Again Goku nodded enthusiastically. "It's a deal. Thank you for understanding Shenron, it's just that I really have to go and help out my friends now. There haven't been any casualties so far and I'm not sure it'll stay that way unless I step in."

"I understand. And my thanks are with you again Son Goku. For now I must depart, so this will probably be the last time I see you for a while."

Goku held up a goofy thumbs-up and a beaming smile to go with his speech. "Mhm. Bye Shenron. I'll be sure to drop by when I get the chance!"

With that the great dragon left, swirling around and gliding off into the distance, leaving Goku with a soft look of determination and a vague smile as he watched a good friend sail away. He stood tranquilly for such a chaotic fighter; preparing for the battle ahead in mind was just as important as in body, and if he was to come out on top against these creatures of space and time then he'd have to bring his A-game to the battlefield. These Vices were more numerous and powerful than any adversary they'd faced and he knew deep within that it would fall upon his shoulders to tackle the Master.

"So that's what Shenron is really like eh?" came the voice of Vegeta as he appeared behind him over a small rise. "Seems like a cheery customer, then again I'd hesitate before inviting him to any parties."

"Look who's talking." Goku taunted back with a grin.

Vegeta shrugged, settling down on a rock next to the contemplating saiyan. "Touché. So how exactly does the dragon live here? I take it we're not inside the Dragon Balls right now? Are we?"

Goku laughed as Vegeta had broken his focus and forced him into conversation. "How could we be inside the Dragon Balls Vegeta? They're tiny! How would the nine of us and a Dragon fit inside those things? Man, I thought you were smarter than that."

Vegeta snarled, irritated by Goku's sincere disbelief of his mistake. "I've seen effeminate, purple galactic overlords, beings made up of our very own DNA structure and a feared creature sealed away for thousands of years that looks like a stick of bubblegum; after a while you just go with it – it seemed plausible to me."

"Still, that's pushing it a bit don't you think?"

"Not really Kakarot." Said Vegeta rather obviously after reconsidering all the crazy events they'd seen.

"Eh, I thought it was. Anyway this is the Dragon's world in his own dimension, like I said earlier. The Dragon Balls don't really contain him; they're more like a gate between our world and his."

"Makes sense I guess." Figured Vegeta. For a while they sat in silence as Vegeta's mind tarried over the one question he'd asked himself earlier. He knew Kakarot wouldn't give him a straight answer however he worded it, so eventually he just decided to be as blunt as ever. "Kakarot why did you only ask me to go with you?"

"What do you mean?" Goku turned to his friend with a confused expression.

"Before you let the others come along you requested that only I go with you. I hate to admit it but right now Gohan and Raditz are just as strong as I am and have the potential to become even more powerful, all of them do." Again Vegeta cast his eyes down to his hand, feeling powerless to do anything of worth now that he'd grown older.

Goku didn't answer right away; instead he just sat quietly for a few moments before finally getting to his feet after some consideration. "Because you've got the potential."

Vegeta looked up to the saiyan with a look of utter confusion only to find that Goku had now turned his back and begun walking back towards the temple.

"Wait, Kakarot! The potential for what? Where are you going?"

"Off to bed. Night Vegeta." chimed the saiyan without even turning around.

"Wait a minute Kaka-"

Vegeta's speech was abruptly cut short by the swift noise of Goku's instant transmission teleporting him away, leaving him with a mixed feeling of frustration to go with Goku's cryptic message. He considered finding the man again to ask him what exactly he meant but knew it would be completely fruitless. He'd get his answer only by experiencing it firsthand; Goku knew that if he helped Vegeta through this period of doubt he'd be weaker for it in the long run, and would only see it as another stab to his pride that he was humbled once again by the generous hero.

* * *

Morning came with a gorgeous red sunrise as the fighters rose one by one to meet in the great hall of the Dragon's realm. Vegeta's eyes were bloodshot and lips dry after being awake all night contemplating the meaning of Goku's words, though his reserved indifference shunned the others away from questioning it. Eventually Goku appeared last of all, circling his arms in a stretching motion and letting out a great yawn as he approached the team.

"How can you be tired Goku? You're the last to get up by a whole hour!" Trunks observed.

"Hey I'm not like you guys, I like my sleep!" he said, putting on a bashful, optimistic smile. He looked fresh as a daisy after his virtual hibernation and seemed ready to take on the whole world in this next week of training. He checked a quick, mental register to see if everyone was present before proceeding. "Is everyone ready?" he asked.

The others nodded, eager to get back to their familiar homes and loving families that would suit provide the perfect motivation for knuckling down and getting this final battle with the Vices over for good.

"Say Goku, I've been wondering something." Voiced Uub as the man placed a hand on his shoulder, checking around to see if everyone was touching.

"What is it Uub?" Goku asked.

"I was thinking; how did you transmit between dimensions – I mean, _I _can perform the instant transmission and I couldn't seem to make it out of the void's destination whenever I tried, so how did you do it?"

"Oh that," Goku smiled, proudly unveiling one of his new techniques. "when I performed it to Shenron he recognised the potential of it, and through that he taught me an even more advanced version of the technique that allows me to move in an out of dimensions. He called it the umm," Goku scratched his head in order to recite the correct term. "'Inter-dimensional instant transmission'. . . But that's too many words for me so I just keep calling it the instant transmission! I'll teach it you some time!"

"Cool!"

Goku suddenly remembered his first fight against Uub in which he had correctly copied both the instant transmission and the Kamehameha on his first attempt thanks to his unique ability to copy simple moves in the heat of battle. He had now also regained the power of regeneration thanks to rigorous training to make him one of the most versatile fighters in the gang.

After a final check Goku teleported the group away with a burst of concentrated power. From this second transmission the people familiar with it could tell a slight difference in the jolt from the inter-dimensional crossing. It only took a simple flash to get them back to their home planet, and the overwhelming nostalgic appreciation of the bleak mountain range they ended up in seized each fighter's heart. Just as before, it was only now that they realised how much they'd missed this place. But now was the time for reunions; they had families and friends to get back to, especially Goku.

"So we'll meet up in a week's time okay? Make sure you guys are all ready." he warned.

Tien and Uub said their goodbyes and abruptly took off, followed closely by Trunks and Vegeta, with the prince speeding home suspiciously faster than usual. Piccolo departed next to leave the four similar looking relatives by themselves.

"So Raditz, are you coming to stay with us again for a bit?" asked Goten, almost pleading to have his new uncle over. "Goku's here now so you can't use your training excuse again – he'll spar with you all you want! Right Dad?"

"Yeah that'd be great! I can't wait to see how much you guys have improved." Goku seemed genuinely curious as to the development of the group like a small boy anticipating new presents.

"Then sure, I can stay for a while." figured Raditz with a shrug. "If that's okay with you, Kakarot."

"Aww man." Goku moaned, suddenly slapping a hand to his forehead, apparently unwarranted. "I've already got Vegeta with the whole-" his tone suddenly shifted to a gruff, masculine voice in a half-decent impression of his rival. "'You're a saiyan _warrior, _how _dare _you ask me to call you by an earth given name!' thing going on, and now I've got another one? Geez, can't you just call me Goku?"

Raditz shrugged. "Alright, sure thing Goku."

An eerie silence suddenly spread over the family like thickened marmite as Goku, Gohan and Goten exchanged looks of utter disbelief upon this new development.

"D-Did you just call me Goku?" the saiyan dared to ask, almost whispering under the tension.

"Well yeah, I mean if Kakarot bothers you so much I've no problem-"

"You mean no stubborn disagreements, 'saiyan pride' stuff or all that?" asked Gohan.

"Uhh, I can go back to calling him Kakarot if you really-"

"_HA!" _

Raditz recoiled as his brother suddenly exploded into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, followed quickly by his two nephews joining in. "What's so funny!"

But Goku could barely catch a breath from giggling so much, and so could only elaborate between gasping chuckles before erupting once again. "You're the worst saiyan ever!"

Raditz growled as a crimson blush painted his face.

* * *

One would think that finding a small cottage so deep into the vast mountains would be an impossible task for even people with the senses of the Z-fighters, as even Raditz silently admitted that he didn't remember the way back to the Son's household. Goku, Gohan and Goten however, each knew the way like a sixth sense, even if they veered off course they could easily correct themselves to make sure they touched down on the grounds of the modest abode within only a few minutes of liftoff. The four landed and surveyed the area; the sun was high in the sky for two in the afternoon and they'd half expected Chi-Chi to be outside catching the rays, but no; the smoke pluming excessively from the chimney meant that she was preparing dinner for later. Having Gohan and Goten back for that short time a few months ago and having Goku's wish granted a while after had filled her with optimism. But since then they _had _been gone a while. She sighed in disappointment with that slow thought burning its way into her mind of 'what if I never see them again?'

Goku inhaled the deep scent of the luscious grass mixed with the faint aroma of some exotic meat flowing from the door.

"It sure is good to be back." He noted, smiling at the familiar view.

The others nodded in agreement before heading for the door.

"Chi-Chi I'm home!" Goku called, again proclaiming it so casually and completely ignoring the fact that he'd been gone for so long.

The saiyan was met by silence as he scanned around for any sight of his wife: Nothing.

"Chi-Chi?"

But Goku's confusion was punched short when the woman dove from the living room entrance to his right and tackled him to the floor with a supercharged leap towards him. Her power was impressive, as despite being such a broad and steady man Goku was knocked to the ground and for a moment he had no idea whether his wife was embracing him or attacking him. Thankfully it was the former.

"_Goku!" _she squealed through tears.

The three remaining saiyans happily watched their mother frolicking over Goku, and instantly they noticed how young she looked thanks to Goku's wish. It was only then that it occurred to Gohan and Raditz that it was possible that Goku had only done such a thing to make her forget about the time he'd spent away and not have to face her wrath when he returned.

"Oh god," Gohan said, humorously slapping a hand to his forehead. "my own mother looks younger than I do."

"Hey you've got it easy; if we're ever out without Dad then people will think she's _my _wife." Reasoned Goten.

The five shared a laugh, and once Chi-Chi had finished relentlessly thanking Goku for the permanent makeover she prepared enough food for four hungry saiyans. They'd spend the night mercifully giving themselves some much deserved time off to celebrate the fact that they'd escaped the room's grasp, and they suspected that the others would be doing the same thing; all except for a certain saiyan prince.

* * *

For the twentieth time in that session Vegeta initiated the highest level difficulty exercise at eight hundred and fifty times the Earth's normal gravity. He told himself that now that he'd experienced it in Shenron's dimension, trying anything else would be a waste. After only a brief reunion Bulma had asked him to slow down in seeing this unrivalled level of intensity his training had risen to, but he'd only shunned her away with more on his mind than he cared to admit.

Every movement was a stretch on his muscles that made him think they'd snap a pressure on his bones that almost cracked them, though still he persevered. A small target popped up behind him and after an agonising handspring he flared a ki sphere at it before spinning into a kick aimed at one to his left.

_Kakarot, what did you mean by potential? I'm a day or two from maxing out completely - is there something I'm missing? It doesn't seem like there's much more 'potential' in anything this old man has to offer._

The desperate internal struggle fuelled the gamble for survival inside the computerised death-trap. Even the automated response had warned him about the dangers but he'd overturned their command with a witty retort and a cold shoulder. Now he was paying dearly for his arrogance. A target sprung up before him right into his left fist, though before Vegeta could celebrate a turret blindsided him with a concentrated blast of his own infused ki.

Vegeta went down with that final moment of pain, knocking him out for the count and disengaging the system automatically. He'd been pushed right past his limit without even realising it thanks to the tormenting load on his mind; Kakarot's words had taken their toll on him for better or for worse. In his last moments of consciousness he felt the whir of the system powering down and the high heels clicking their way into the chamber as Bulma rushed inside. Trunks followed, with Bulla waiting at the door in fright. The saiyan was out cold and limp as a dead animal. His back was burned where the blast had connected and there was a bleeding cut where his forehead had met the floor.

"What's the matter with him?" Bulma questioned. "He's always been obsessed with training but he's never been this bad." She looked down sympathetically to her injured husband.

"I'm not sure mom, but he looked kinda tired this morning. I think he just needs some rest. If something's bothering him there's no use trying to get it out of him; just let him figure it out on his own."

Bulma sighed. "Yeah I guess you're right. . . I'm just not sure how much more he can take, if he does that for the next week then I doubt he'll even be around to fight when the time comes."

Trunks shook his head and reassured his mother that Vegeta was a tough customer before helping her in carrying him up to the bed. After that he left, switching off the light and leaving the rejuvenated Bulma to ponder on just what exactly had got her beloved husband in such a twist.

"Figures," she muttered. "I get a new body and as soon as he gets back he's too tired for me to try it out."

* * *

And so for a while the final bout of training continued and passed as quickly as a rolling leaf in an autumn gust. A small, nostalgic gathering of folks old and new was held a few days into the week to set the scene and inform them of this new threat. Yamcha and Chaiotzu were among the faces not seen by some of the fighters for years along with old timers like Mr. Satan and Roshi. Vegeta was away in his furious training and even though he usually said little at these events, the absence of his presence could be felt. Goku had no one to pester or argue with over food and the others could talk more freely without the subdued awkwardness of his watchful gaze, but the Briefs had the distinct feeling that something had been even more wrong with him lately. Bearing this in mind, Trunks had ventured over to Goku during the party, who was mindlessly cramming in a fifth bowl of noodles.

"Hey Goku, I, don't mean to be rude but did you say something to my father?" he'd asked nervously. "It's just he's been acting really weird lately; that is, more so than usual."

Goku had considered, and after remembering his message he instantly regretted them in seeing the heavy toll it had taken on one of his best friends. Nevertheless, he nodded his head with a serious grimace. "I did, and I'm sorry Trunks but it's pointless to try and help him. This is something he has to work out on his own; I mean, I only put him on the right path, it's up to him to cross it."

Trunks nodded. "Raditz mentioned something earlier, that he was paranoid about his own limits and that he felt he was getting too old to fight. Could any of that be true? I mean, he _is _a pure-blooded saiyan so he should fight for longer than usual right?"

"Everyone, even us saiyans, have to retire someday Trunks. Vegeta's old now, but then again I personally think he's still got room for another few decades in the field, I mean he still looks no older than thirty. But it doesn't matter what I think – it's up to him. The choices Vegeta makes in the coming days should decide whether or not he carries on fighting or gives up entirely."

Trunks had gasped at the notion that one simple decision would affect his father's future career; he knew Vegeta seemed worried lately but he'd had no idea how serious the matter actually was.

Goku shrugged and threw up his hands, showing how little power he had over this kind of situation. "For the Earth's sake, I really hope he makes the right choice." He mused.

"And whether or not he makes it in time." Said Trunks.

* * *

_Alright readers I know that was short and with a bit less detail than usual but work with me here - see, the reason this took so long to come out (well, at least compared to the recent chapters anyway) is because, well. . . A few nights ago a few friends and I had a little too much to drink and we'd been doing annual boxing spars earlier and everyone was really pumped, so my friend told me that he'd pay my poker buy-in for next week if I let him give me a moderate punch to the face. . . Yeah. Anyway, so I foolishly accepted and he ended up going a little too far - one of my back teeth is now broken, the back half of it is just gone and as you can imagine I'm in quiiite a bit of pain :( I'll put the video up on youtube if anyone wants to see it. So yeah, It's kinda distracting when you're trying to write. I don't think it's THAT serious in the long run (fingers crossed, I'm going to the dentist next week) but it's kinda weird that I can feel the inside of my tooth with my tongue._

_Next chapter should be another plunge back into action since I think the Goku coming back thing has gone on for long enough and it's his mad skillz that we really care about. _

_Oh and by the way, please don't misinterpret the first part of this chapter. Now I'm not trying to insult anyone I'm just pointing out that SOME fanfiction readers and writers will mistake any kind of tension or friendship for flirtation and chemistry - there is NOTHING going on between Goku and Vegeta; as hilarious as it would be at this point I'm not going to have the last chapter do a U-turn with the words 'Kakarot, I've always loved you.' I'm not insulting yaoi or slash fans I'm just saying that some of them have odd views on what constitutes 'sexual tension'. The truth is in most things I write I like to have a strong sense of camaraderie between the two male leads (think Skywalker/Solo, Frodo/Sam or Holmes/Watson) and so Goku and Vegeta fit right in.  
_


	26. Chapter 26 Through the Front Door

Chapter 26: Through the Front Door

By the time their stay on Earth had ended, the nine fighters had the creeping suspicion that it was all too soon to be going up against the Vices once again. They'd had enough time to train though each seemed to have increased relatively little compared to the time they'd had in the room. Perhaps it was the distractions of their home world giving a lack of motivation or the individuals beginning to decelerate, reaching their limits. Each fighter was to his own and though they feared for their lives, they knew that they could've done little more than they already had to prepare for this day: Today they'd put a stop to the Vices for good.

Two more remained along with their elusive master and the group were confident with Goku on their side, as his mere presence cast aside many of their doubts and assured them of victory. This would mark the first time they'd directly engaged Vices rather than being hunted down through time like a pack of fleeing fawns; now was _their _turn to go on the offensive. They had the advantage in numbers and their strength had never been higher.

Goku was first on the scene, arriving after a particularly odd week on his half. He'd spend half his time sparring with Raditz, Gohan and Goten and generally being around the house to spread his influence, then the rest of the time he'd disappear as usual to train in solitude - often they weren't even sure if he was still on Earth. Even in going toe to toe with Raditz and Gohan they were still in doubt at how powerful he'd become. He regularly powered up to the fourth level to match them with relative ease and it left them wondering about whether or not it was his full power, as he'd shown no evidence to make them suspect the contrary.

Regardless, he was here now and Goku almost always came through for them, even when things looked completely hopeless. He stood waited in gleeful anticipation for Vegeta and the others to arrive when a voice interrupted him.

"Good to see you again."

Goku whirled to see Piccolo sitting cross-legged atop a small rock, wondering just how long the namekian had been there. He jumped slightly at the green man's sudden appearance.

"Piccolo! You scared me to death! You really do like to sneak up on people don't you?" said a hurt looking Goku.

"It's a bad habit of mine." Piccolo admitted in one of his rare jokes. He savoured a vague hint of a grin before continuing. "So Goku, do we really have any chance of beating these guys?"

Goku paused; apparently Piccolo hadn't been so blinded with optimism by his reappearance and kept level-headed throughout. He expected nothing less from the wizened veteran but the frankness of his statement caught him off guard. The saiyan placed a finger and a thumb to his chin and thoughtfully rolled his eyes into their upper corners as though he was in some kind of calculation, with it being a humorous sight to see him so deep in thought.

"Hmm." He said, noting the approaching ki signals of three groups of fighters. "Yeah, I think so."

"That didn't sound very convincing."

Goku shrugged. "That's because I've no idea how powerful their master really is."

Piccolo was about to respond when he was cut off by the sound of Tien and Uub swiftly landing before them, right in the centre of the dusty mountain range they now inhabited. Trunks and Vegeta arrived a few seconds later, followed by Raditz, Gohan and Goten, who had apparently been stalled for almost an hour in waiting for Goku to get out of bed before finally realising that he'd already left.

Amidst the determined, stoic expressions there was one that stuck out like a sore thumb; Vegeta looked tense and annoyed, like he'd rather be anywhere else other than this crazy event. It was out of character for him to dread a fight but his reasoning was sound – he'd hit his limit only a few days into his training and since then hadn't increased his power level even in the slightest. He still practiced his on his form and techniques with unrelenting fervour, but the level of his strength hadn't increased; he'd hit his limit. Goku's words had annoyed him further as well, as he'd built up a small glimmer of hope in his mind that he might have some kind of 'potential' that in the end had turned out to be complete crap.

"Alright then! Is everyone ready to go?" Goku cheerily exclaimed.

He was met by a chorus of yeses, though the sensible thinking of Piccolo quickly intervened. "Hang on a minute. I know the Vices can't come into this dimension without the room's shift, but we can't be sure they don't have any tricks up their sleeve to attack the Earth while we're gone. One of us should stay behind."

"Is that you backing out I hear namek? Scared to face them are we?" came the inevitable taunt of Vegeta, though this time it was different; like he couldn't be bothered putting any real condescending tone into it and making his mock sound like an empty, automated response.

"It's alright," reassured Goku. "I've taken care of it."

Blank stares met the orange clad warrior.

"Uh. . . How have you done that Goku?" asked Tien as soon as they realised that he wasn't going to elaborate.

"It's a surprise!" he exclaimed simply.

"Oookay, are you su-"

"Of course I'm sure, trust me! The Earth will be safe while we're gone, now is everyone ready? I can't wait to set off!"

The Z-Fighters shrugged meekly and nodded; Goku had saved the Earth so many times that he could have a little fun while doing it now, and keeping his friends in suspense was one of his favourite ways of doing so. They supposed he knew what he was doing and if they should trust anyone then it should be him. Upon his impatience the nine then made contact as Goku placed his hand on Goten and Trunks' shoulders before zapping them away with another uneasy jolt of his inter-dimensional instant transmission.

* * *

After the momentary flash the world appeared a much darker place, as the saiyan had teleported them back into the darkened canyon. Thunder and lightning flashed on the horizon without rain and the environment for miles behind them was bleak and haunting, like an abandoned house left for decades without care. Before them loomed the spire; the enormous tower of the Vices that stretched up to almost five hundred metres and was the only feature besides jutting, jagged rock faces in this nightmarish dimension.

"Can't we just fly all the way up to the top?" Uub questioned, as Goku had transmitted them right to the front door that was also colossal, big enough for a man like King Yemma to use in his daily life.

"We could, but where would be the fun in that?" said Goku. "Besides, we have to clear all the levels to make sure they we don't miss any threats; just one of these guys could destroy the entire earth in the blink of an eye so if we can't be too careful." He then turned to the door. "Anyway let's get this thing open first."

The others stood back as Goku fell into a wide combat stance and readied a fist that hummed with his trembling ki infusion. The door may have been massive but Goku had tackled large foes before and come out on top; size wasn't everything, but then again he'd have to bust this thing open without using his full power. He took a final deep breath, and without wasting another second he plunged a powerful straight into the cold steel of the Vices' grand entrance. Air rushed away in a powerful gust from the force of his monstrous attack as he kept a determined scowl fixed on his unwavering fist pressed hard against the door. The fighters expected the great thing to swing open with some kind of delayed reaction, but to their surprise it was Goku who caved first, eventually recoiling with a high pitched yelp and nursing a bruised fist by blowing on it furiously.

"OW! Ow ow ow ow!" He cried, comically rubbing his hand and sporting an upset look. "That thing's completely solid!"

"Here let me try!" came the voice of an enthusiastic Gohan, and before his father could give a warning he'd darted forwards and slammed another fist into the barrier, only to be met with the same painful fate. The problem was that the nine knew dangerous foes awaited them inside and so didn't want to waste precious energy in just reaching them. It was a ploy to drain them and a very clever strategy on the Vices' part, and no doubt they'd encounter more obstacles once they broke into the spire. Both Goku and Gohan had poured as much energy as they were prepared to put into just a damn door and neither had made even a dent. After a few seconds Vegeta stepped forwards with a powerful kick to show just how impatient he really was. A boot-shaped mark was etched deep into the door followed by a booming noise of its hinges slightly buckling, but still it persevered and in the end looked just as ready to resist their attacks.

"This is ridiculous!" Goku moaned. "Does anyone else wanna try?"

Raditz and Trunks both then had a turn, using no more energy than either Goku or Gohan and doing making even less of an impression. The thought of going all out just to open the thing was carefully considered amongst a few of the fighters when one bravely stepped up.

"Stand back guys, I've got this one." Said a stoic Tien. The group hesitantly separated to make room for his attack with silent doubts about his capabilities; after all he wasn't a saiyan and so even his full power couldn't be much more than what Goku or Vegeta put out in their sleep. Though despite their doubts, Tien proved to be as resourceful as ever with his exclusive techniques.

"_Neo Tri-Beam!_"

With just the spoken words the gears clicked into place within each Z-Fighters mind; Tien's signature Tri-Beam, and presumably this advanced version, was at its simplest a move that blasted out a massive thrusting force using concentrated ki. It had been helpful in keeping foes at bay that were much more powerful than himself like Seni or back in the day, Cell. The blast erupted as a holy golden light from a triangle shaped pose with his hands, encompassing almost the whole door before blasting it open and right off its hinges with barely a sweat broken on the bald man's head.

"Nice move Tien! Guess I forgot all about that one." Goku figured.

"Hey I might be old but I can still teach these kids a trick or two."

With the door opened the eager fellowship ventured into a great hall not dissimilar to the one Shenron had created in his own dimension. The similarities between them were almost definitely coincidental though; this kind of room held consistently with the grandeur of the Vices' tower and for the dragon it was simply a matter of convenience due to his enormous size. The finer details however were quite different between the two; for starters the presence of a spotless, shimmering surface had been replaced with a prickly stone of dark grey, making the pillars look more like convenient stalagmites rather than giving the place a proper structure.

While the floor was clear, the walls and roof in particular were laden with uncoordinated spines of protruding rock to give it an ugly, gothic look about it. They weren't just for show too; some of them looked sharp enough to do more than bruising if one was forced into them, so if they'd be fighting in this room the group noted to stay centred. A musty smell of dry rot rung in the air and almost made Uub wretch thanks to its pungency. It was like the smell of a burning corpse left out in the desert, making the Z-Fighters doubt whether they _wanted _to know its origin.

Two staircases leading up in opposite directions stood at the end of the empty hall, and wasting no time Goku led the group straight towards them. They made it almost a quarter of the way across the room before Trunks realised his best friend was missing.

"Goten?"

After looking amongst themselves the group turned to see the youngest son of Goku thankfully still with them, but he'd frozen right at the door's entrance with a fixed gaze of horror at the high roof.

"What is it Goten?" asked Uub curiously.

Goten only pointed a trembling finger to the roof, a dwelling that the other eight had briefly scanned only to see nothing. Apparently Goten was more perceptive though, as closer inspection revealed that it was littered with hundreds, no, _thousands_ of moist, salivating eggs each the size of a human being that throbbed like a spastic, diseased heartbeat and occasionally dripped their grey liquids to the ground below.

"W-What the hell are those things!" Trunks cried.

"Vynuls." Goku muttered. The group looked to their fearless leader, the only one who stood completely calm and the only one who seemed to have some idea of the kind of creatures that would emerge from those disgusting pods.

"Uhh, alright?" said Goten nervously. "What the heck is a Vynul dad?"

"Shenron didn't say much about these things, but he didn't have to, I knew from the moment he told me what they were that they were something to avoid."

"So what kind of creature are they exactly?" Tien asked.

"Experiments; failed Vices that the Master created before perfecting his knack for making the ultimate warriors. He's got an entire army of them, and some of which almost have the strength of their lowest member, Primus."

"What!" Trunks now looked hysterical. "_Every _one of them is a preliminary attempt at a Vices! As strong as that creep I defeated!"

"Only some of them, and I said almost as strong - anyway we're all much stronger now; I doubt any of us would have much trouble in taking care of him."

"But there's _thousands _of them!" he protested.

"Well they're in hibernation now since the Master has no other purpose for them. We'll just have to hope that none of them-"

Goku's optimistic speech was cut off suddenly be the sound of a repulsive squelch and a tearing of one of those tough eggs as one of them emerged.

"Hatch."

The creature was lanky, with thin arms and an entirely grey body to go with a face that was completely featureless aside from lopsided slits and a misshapen nose near its chin; apparently the Master had no time to aesthetically perfect any of these monsters, and once he'd judged them a failure had simply discarded them and moved onto the next. They were mutated, disfigured and so far from human that it was a mystery how the Master had gone from these to the very convincing looking Vices they'd fought so far. The single one descended and spread out bat-like wings while careering downwards towards the huddled group of fighters with an ear-splitting screech that actually cause physical pain to the sensitive ears of one particular namekian. In fact Piccolo became so pissed off in such a short amount of time that he acted first uncharacteristically, pointing up two parallel fingers towards the fast approaching Vynul and pouring a good amount of ki into a single shot.

"_Special Beam Cannon!_"

A purple spiral of impaling light pronounced Piccolo's attack with a hum of power to strike the flying creature right in between the eyes thanks to Piccolo's perfect marksmanship. The thing exploded from the mushy cranium and rained down a hail of spongy, grey gloop from its insides. Goten half expected Piccolo to blow the trail of smoke away from his burning fingers as they smouldered like the heated barrel of a recently fired gun after his cool display – he didn't.

"Hmph, they're not so tough." Piccolo figured.

As if on cue an entire host of the same repeated tearing sound could be heard from the roof as a legion of the creatures rained down like hellfire. One might've been a simple Special Beam Cannon away from defeat, but in mere seconds almost a hundred had hatched to swoop down upon the Z-Fighters and engage them in combat. Trunks, Goten, Raditz, Vegeta and Goku each powered up to the first stage of the mythical Super Saiyan and sprung into action along with their comrades to tackle these hulking monstrosities ten at a time.

They came in all shapes and sizes and a whole host of different body shapes, though the common attributes were all too noticeable: Every single one of them was a murky grey, hideously ugly and powerful. Every punch mattered and every dodge had to be perfectly timed thanks to the countless number of the bat-like creatures overpowering them. Goku and Vegeta expertly zipped around the room, using the great space of the hall to their advantage and drawing much of the fire away from the lower class fighters, some of whom flailed their arms and pulled awkwardly instinctive manoeuvres to comically outwit their opponents. As well as they fought, they couldn't hold on forever; for every Vynul they punched into exploding goo another three hatched and plummeted into the fray. Trunks ducked a lanky swipe of an arm before realising something he should've done from the beginning, and so pulled out the sword to go all out on the offensive.

Even with their lives being at stake, the reality of three insanely strong opponents prevented the valiant warriors from going all out against these sideshow freaks, but it was something they'd have to do sooner or later if they wanted to survive. The problem was that they just _kept coming_.

Raditz burst into a base state of the Kaio-Ken and used the quick upsurge of power to flare up his aura, with that being enough to give him space to think for just a second. In the end he found his answer after glancing up and down desperately for the others.

"Goku! Vegeta! The roof!" he cried, seeking out the two most powerful in an instant. The three nodded and made to the air in synchronism as they powered up signature moves for a rare moment of ingenuity.

"_Kamehameha!_"

"_Big Bang Attack!"_

"_Double Sunday!"_

Two beams, one yellow and one a fierce blue paired up with the sizzling ball of ki to create a devastating explosion aimed at a spot right at the centre of the infested roof. For a mere ten seconds the relentless barrage of enemies subsided as the smoke of the blasts hung thickly over the collateral like an ominous storm cloud above them. After that their time was up; they'd destroyed but a few Vynuls due to their shells being highly resistant and now the creatures poured from the dusty ashes once again looking more manic than ever. Raditz snarled; even their combined strength had done relatively little to their numbers – the roof was an absolute hive of throbbing cocoons that now hatched even more frequently thanks to the disturbance. If they didn't power up soon they'd be history, but wasting such precious energy would be a mistake.

"Goku!" Piccolo yelled up, once again having come up with the best idea. "You take Gohan up those stairs and Vegeta, you take Trunks. Four should be enough – we can handle these down here and we'll back you up once we're done."

As they'd noticed before there were two opposing staircases at the end of the hall, both leading up and into different sections of the spire's upper chambers. Piccolo's plan was that two effective father and son pairings take the respective routes while he, Raditz, Tien, Goten and Uub stay down here to fend off the enemy by utilising their full strength. Goku was both astonished and honoured at the same time; everyone had seemed so keen to fight the Vices before, and now they'd let him have a shot at them without bickering over first dibs.

"Are you guys sure about this?" he asked, blocking a Vynul's blow with a sturdy forearm.

Raditz spoke on behalf of the group. "Of course! Go! We'll take care of these ugly things and help you after; there's no sense in keeping us all down here if the only thing they're gonna do is drain us of our energy!"

Goku nodded and caught the glimpse of Vegeta from across the room. He also looked fond of the plan, as if this prelude to battle had made him forget about his problems and rush ahead to face an even stronger opponent in true saiyan fashion. Trunks and Gohan also swiftly agreed, and so the four landed in a cubic formation before heading for the stairs at a quickened pace. Goku and Vegeta lead the assault, charging through wave after wave of hulking creatures, every one standing at least a foot in height over them.

They ploughed through the wall of Frankenstein's rejects with an unstoppable force; Goku would come forward with a punch and Vegeta would follow up with a cooperative kick to keep the thing down. Every time one of the fiends got even close they'd watch the other's back with a compressed ki blast that would put the thing out of commission. Even against the overwhelming number of foes they still carried on successfully as a four man team and within a few minutes came upon the two archways sat comfortably next to each other whilst leading off in opposite directions. This was no time for goodbyes; they had to press on, it was keep moving or die in this bad excuse for a mosh, and so after double-teaming a final Vynul the two saiyans exchanged a brief thumbs up of luck whilst smiling to the other in what each recognised as excitement.

The old rivalry had kicked in again; there were two Vices left and the Master would surely would surely reside at the top, the only question now was which of them would take on the stronger opponent. Both wanted the number twelve whether they could handle it or not, and with that simple gesture the two parted up the stairs with their sons in tow, awaiting the next challenge as they eagerly smashed through squads of Vynuls descending the steps towards them.

* * *

_Hi there! Me again! . . . Actually for a change I don't have much to say on this chapter except for that I quite liked it. . . That's about it :S The next 3 are ones that I've planned from the beginning so they should be good: lots of Vegeta, lot_s _of Goku._ Win. _But who ends up with the bigger challenge? Goku is being secretive again but I promise he'll spill everything soon - I don't want the final fight to be just some stale exchange of who has the best power they've had hidden in reserve all this time. Oh yeah and I made my first VERY subtle LOTR reference._

_PS. It's now OVER 100'000!  
_


	27. Chapter 27 Potential Hidden

Chapter 27: Potential Hidden

As Trunks and Vegeta raced past the hordes of Vynuls charging their way Trunks couldn't help but notice that his father was acting a little strangely; earlier he'd been covered with a vague cloud of doubt that prevented him from being too wild, but now the prince seemed to have broke free from that shell completely. He ploughed through creature after creature each time spinning into a dangerous manoeuvre that could've ended up badly for either himself or the monster. Still, his risky strategies paid off and he tore opponents the enemies like scissors to tissue much to the relief of his son.

Trunks had no idea what was going through his father's mind, but whatever it was he was glad for it, if not slightly anxious about his motives. Perhaps it was the thought of Goku doing the same thing on the adjacent flight of stairs that spurred him to do better, or maybe the heat of their previous battle had given him the adrenaline rush he needed to snap out of his stupor. The real reason was simpler really; thanks to his shortage of ability Vegeta knew that unless he played carefully his time was short, and even if he escaped here it would be a hollow life with no more plateaus to ascend to. So this was it; it was now or never. He'd rather die than waste away, so if he was going to go then he'd go out with a bang doing what he lived for.

The two raced up countless flights of stairs as they tossed Vynuls here and there before the incline of the steps eventually began to decrease after a multitude of incoherent twists and turns.

"Trunks! We're getting close. Be on your guard." He warned with what seemed to be a hint of concern. He knew that whichever Vices they faced Trunks would be no match for them, so it would be his turn to fight once again. He'd give it everything he had, but if his suspicions were confirmed and it wasn't enough, he only prayed that Trunks would be able to escape before the Vicis stepped over his corpse to face him.

Trunks nodded, and with a single swing of his sword he traced a superheated slash through the leg of one Vynul and up into the gut of a second, spinning around and slashing the throat of another upon his landing. They carried on as the stairs got narrower and shallower until they eventually came to an opening – another hall more suited for combat. The two were now deep into the heart of the spire after climbing almost thirty stories of damn staircases. Vegeta had felt Kakarot and Gohan's ki signal stop disappear a few levels down which meant that they'd probably engaged their own opponent, and the presentation of this new arena gave him a feeling he'd be meeting his own soon enough. Once the saiyans stepped into the great hall the pursuing Vynuls suddenly halted on the last step and stood staring like rabid dogs forbidden from their evening meal.

"What's the matter, why'd they stop?" Trunks had turned around to them, lowering his sword and looking inquisitively at the beasts.

"Because we've got company." Vegeta replied. He only stared at the open archway at the end of the hall before the lone ki signal he'd been sensing emerged and strode carefully across the room. Vegeta and Trunks mirrored, slowly walking across the great hall, savouring the moment and preparing themselves fully for what seemed like a lifetime before the two sides came within a speaking range. It was only now that they could see who they were up against; a broad chested beast of a man whose very appearance commanded authority and struck terror into Trunks's heart. He must've been at least six feet in height and looked to weigh close to three hundred pounds thanks to the incredible muscles he wielded, and he hadn't even powered up yet.

Aside from that his appearance was rather plain; he kept his flowing hair of a light brown at shoulder length and wore only baggy, grey combat pants and two sweatbands on both wrists. His face looked rather plain, stern and calculating blue eyes peered out of a tough guy exterior that portrayed control and balance. Even despite his ordinary facial features his size and the great wall of ki he put out wholly convinced Vegeta that this man was the greatest adversary he or any of the other fighters had ever faced. If that wasn't enough to scare them, the heavily inked tattoo on his massive chest displayed both hands joined to the farthest north position, and _then_ he opened his mouth.

"Greetings fighters." To both Trunks and Vegeta his voice was quite simply the most terrifying thing they'd ever heard; a deep, murderous tone thickly laced with the confidence and a level of command that almost ordered them to kneel and beg without him even asking. He now looked and felt every part the killer after a mere two words, for he now appeared so intimidating that they had half a mind to turn tail and run.

He continued, looking around coolly. "I am Duodecimus. Speak, where is Goku? My master _demands _to see him."

"_Ha_!" Vegeta barked suddenly, much to the confusion of Trunks; had his father lost it? Why was he laughing about this? Did he even feel the energy coming from this guy? After a pause he elaborated. "You mean Kakarot? I don't know where he is right now, probably beating the hell out of the last of you poor bastards that's standing in his way. Wherever he is he'll be annoyed for sure; I get to fight the Master's magnum opus, the captain of the Vices – I reckon he wanted to take you on himself."

"Be that as it may, I have no interest in fighting you, but you're intruding in my domain and if destroying you first is what permits me to go and seize Goku, then I have no choice but to oblige. I would've preferred to face Goku first and dispense with this nonsense."

"Enough of this!" Growled Vegeta as he dropped into stance. "Anyone who thinks they're good enough to be Kakarot's opponent is good enough to be mine!"

"Such talk. I'll end this quickly."

Trunks followed his father and fell into his own combat stance while sheathing his sword; if it was going to be two on one then he couldn't risk slashing up his own father, but apparently Vegeta had other ideas.

"Trunks, stay out of this." He ordered calmly.

"What! Are you crazy! You can't take on that guy by yourself! He's a mons-"

"_Quiet! _Don't tell me what I can't do! This fight is between me and the Vicis over here!"

Trunks backed away silently, as it seemed from the expression on his father's face that he'd actually hit him or refuse to fight if Trunks attempted to interfere. Perhaps it was for the best; as much as he hated to admit it Duodecimus could take him apart in a heartbeat, but the same could be said for Vegeta. _Father,_ he wondered to himself, _I hope you know what you're doing._

After seeing that Trunks followed his command Vegeta turned his gaze back to the captain of the Vices. "I trust you'll honour our arrangement." He presumed. He'd seen already that the Vicis had called off his Vynuls so that they didn't interfere, and so had at least some vague semblance of honour.

"I may as well, if only to make things more interesting." Duodecimus replied, taking full advantage of the spine chilling voice he possessed.

Vegeta grinned and let the silence pervade the atmosphere for a few moments before continuing. "Then let's get to it."

He made to strike first, pulling back a fist and powering up into the highest peak of a Super Saiyan 2, but somehow, faster than his eyes could follow, before he'd taken off Duodecimus appeared before him with an overhand right. The punch connected to the saiyan's forehead at such a strength he thought he'd lose consciousness after even this first attack, it knocked him straight to the floor before bouncing him ten feet into the air, his skull making contact with the solid floor as well as the Vices' fist.

_Such speed! _noted Vegeta as he levelled out. He lifted a hand to the graze on his forehead. _It's not just that too, his strength is incredible; I need to push it higher if I'm going to beat him_. Reluctantly, the man powered up into the pinnacle of a Super Saiyan 3 before Duodecimus came at him once again, this time harder and faster than before. Just as he blinked the Vicis warped at unbelievable speeds to cast his shadow over the saiyan, he opened his eyes to find the cold-blooded man hovering straight before him, fist poised to attack. Pushing his reactions to their limits Vegeta ducked, feeling the punch sweep over his massive hair before seeing the incoming knee as a follow up attack. He was too late; there was nothing now he could do to dodge this one.

Duodecimus's bone felt like reinforced Kevlar backed up by a multi-layered concrete slab as it smashed hard into Vegeta's gut, causing him to spit out a mouthful of bloody froth, but even that didn't compare to the Vices' armoured elbow powering its way into his back after a twirl to send him back down to the ground level a few breaths shorter. His stomach felt like watered down yoghurt after that first attack and he'd almost broken his back on the second, but that didn't matter; trembling from the impact, he pushed himself to his feet and ascended to the fourth level of Super Saiyan. At this level he'd surely be able to match the Vices' movements, but his was dangerously close to his absolute limit and knew that Duodecimus had a whole boatload of reserves.

This time Vegeta struck again, taking advantage of the muscled tail necessary for this transformation and begun the attack with a swift whip of it before flipping into a heel-first kick. To his amazement Duodecimus blocked both attacks and moved to initiate a counter before Vegeta started his own. He disappeared in a burst of high speed and managed a quick kick to the shin before the two were forced into a lightning fast exchange of punches and kicks.

Trunks watched as the two moved faster than he thought he'd ever be able to. The ground below them began to open up as a sprawling crater thanks to the kinetic energy generated by the downforce of their clashing combinations and the increased pressure of their raging auras. Vegeta's shone as a pure fire and clashed with that of Duodecimus's malevolent looking purple, though at this level both fighters put out an equal amount of power and their moves showed it. Each hit was blocked and countered by the next at even greater speeds as the two let their honed battle instincts take control over their movement. Eventually the two parted with a well placed strike from each party before landing and flying at each other once again. Despite his formidable size Duodecimus's moves exceeded the speed of any foe Vegeta had faced in the past and his brute strength rivalled that of Decimus's giant form, though this mattered little to the saiyan prince.

The two battled for five minutes that seemed more like five hours in their heightened states until after countless desperate attempts, Vegeta got the upper hand. He charged forwards, swooping under a left hook and launching into a powerful uppercut that sent both of them soaring into freefall. It was a clean shot that caught the Vicis hard underneath the chin and drew a thin trail blood from his tongue and gums before Vegeta whirled around and fired a smooth blast to force him back down into the hall's surface in an explosion of sooty mist.

Trunks watched as his father landed and kept a close eye on the restless Vynuls hungering for their flesh over by the staircase and hovering around the doorway from which Duodecimus had emerged. A bright smile spread over his face from his father's upper hand, but he was surprised to see that Vegeta only snarled and readied his fists, staring into the ruin his smoky blast and waiting for the Vicis to re-emerge.

"Come out and do your worst. You know you can't beat me like that so at least do me the courtesy of showing me your full strength!" Vegeta barked.

After a few moments the hardly fazed Duodecimus strode out of the collateral. The billowing smoke of a devastating attack seemed to flee from his very presence, as if it knew of the power he was about to unleash and feared for its safety.

"Impressive; very impressive." commented the Vices, using the power of his deathly voice to drag out his condescension. "You have some skill Vegeta, I'll give you that; I should've expected nothing else from the prince of all saiyans."

Vegeta smirked in recognition.

"You'll be the first person aside from Unidecimus to ever make me unleash my full strength in a battle; truly, you should be honoured to be defeated by a power such as mine."

"Beyond belief. But I've no intention of being defeated here, now hurry up and give me your best, I've got other places to be." Said a bored sounding Vegeta. Despite the secure sounding speech he held a suspicion within that he'd have no chance against Duodecimus's ascended form. His arrogance was now merely a front for a display of confidence, he wasn't so self-absorbed and had seen too much to believe himself the strongest in the universe anymore, knowing he'd have to play this with all his cunning to even stand a chance.

"Very well Vegeta, I'll make you see why _I _am the captain of the captain of the Vices and only _I _am permitted to even see our Master!" Duodecimus's clock face tattoo then began to spin with his words as he heightened his ki to a whole new plateau beyond anything Vegeta had felt before. Even after a few seconds the sturdy floor had gave way into a widening crater and it became apparent that this kind of strength way surpassed that of a Super Saiyan 4 or even the limits of Gohan's ultimate transformation. The effect was so dramatic that a huge wave of a colossal air current streaked away from him, causing Trunks to cover his face as he slowly skidded back due to the pressure. But Vegeta stood firm; if this was to be his end then so be it, though he'd show no weakness before doing so.

Duodecimus emerged a completely different man, bulked up to a state where even his muscles had muscles and sporting a new look entirely. His face had transformed into one of a terrifying wrath and hunger, almost reptilian in appearance with a sadistic look of enjoyment. Vegeta powered up to his own limit in response to this drastic increase, but it was clear he still stood no chance. He'd already been at a Super Saiyan 4; rising up to full power had increased his strength by forty percent, fifty at the very most. Duodecimus's strength on the other hand had way more than doubled, perhaps even tripled – it was difficult to tell thanks to his overwhelming mountain of power compared to Vegeta's.

Vegeta's face was stricken with a look of shock and horror, with his son's looking even more terrified. This was no ordinary being; he was a monster. Vegeta's eventual blink was his first mistake. In the fraction of a second before he opened his eyes a brief flash of ki was the only indicator to him of an assault, and then he felt his insides being pounded by a punch to the gut from a fist using strength he could barely comprehend. His eyes rolled back into their sockets after that single shot; any normal fighter would've gone down after that one devastating blow, though Vegeta fought to regain consciousness, dropping only to his knees before the Vicis followed up the attack with a kick to his chest sending him back into the far wall.

"You know Vegeta, you almost had me worried for a moment." said Duodecimus in his cold tone. "But at that strength you're far from a match for me; even Decimus could've taken you out had you faced him alone, so you should have checked your power before challenging me."

Vegeta sat powerless to even move a muscle, slouched against the wall like a hopeless ragdoll as the Vicis captain approached. Duodecimus launched into a quick succession of five straight punches to his face, each more powerful than the last and containing more power than the attack that had put him in this state, that was all he needed to dish out to turn the saiyan prince's face into a bloody mess. Vegeta dripped pints of blood from a train wreck of a face; in fact it was a miracle that he'd held onto consciousness until now. Every blow was like taking a kamehameha powered freight train to the face.

Trunks protested loudly, but his words fell on deaf ears, as by then Vegeta was so badly beaten up that all he heard was a clear ringing and through swollen eyes his vision was a red, hazy widescreen. But still one image returned to him; the image of Kakarot, and his repressed desire to surpass him, or at least not give him the satisfaction of being defeated and having to be bailed out by him again. He'd rather die than let that happen now, as it would be a sure sign that he'd become worthless as a fighter. It was in thinking this that the prince somehow summoned up the energy to move, vaguely swaying away from another of the Vices' power shots and reaching up to form a fist. Thanks to his lack of power, his punch was merely a grazing slap across Duodecimus's face met by another round of powering, but it still gave the Vicis food for thought.

_How can he still be even moving at that level after what I've given him? _He wondered. He'd seen footage and knew the infamy of Vegeta's inhuman determination, seeing it firsthand however was another affair entirely. It mattered little though – he barely had the strength to move after this thrashing let alone put up a fight. Eventually Duodecimus decided that the man had endured enough and would die soon anyway, and so opted to turn and walk menacingly towards his next victim. Trunks had wanted to help sooner, but after seeing the strength this Vicis wielded he'd been scared into a state of the utmost paralysis, knowing that his maximum power would be no more than a minor inconvenience.

"W. .Where are you going?" croaked a voice.

Duodecimus turned, stricken blindly with a look of horror to see that Vegeta was slowly pushing himself to his feet. One kneecap faltered and one entire arm looked useless as he clung to it, but eventually, trembling, Vegeta had gotten back up once again.

_Just where does he get his strength from? What is he running on!_

The prince then suddenly began a determined war cry and somehow managed to haul himself off the ground into a controlled attack at the Vices general. Duodecimus jumped to the skies to make the saiyan's punch hit nothing but air, but even after that Vegeta hopped up off the ground and soared up to meet him, forcing him into an exchange of blisteringly fast punches. Duodecimus naturally dodged them all without breaking a sweat but the reality of the situation was still surreal to him; despite being broken and beaten after his tremendous onslaught the saiyan clung to life and continued to fight way past the level where most people would've given up and died. His attacks kept coming and coming as he breathed a determined exhale and sweated buckets with each one, even to the point where a single knuckle made contact with the Vices' precious face. That worked him up.

Duodecimus snarled in anger before unleashing an enormous outburst of curiously black ki energy the likes of which Vegeta had never experienced before. The blast made contact with him right away and erupted in a huge explosion, engulfing him and surely finishing him off. Despite finishing him with very little effort Duodecimus remained astounded; he'd seen something else entirely today, a true warrior who didn't fear death and fought like he had nothing to lose. Truly he was an honourable man and the kind he'd consider paying his respects to when this was all over. He considered this as he landed, his gaze falling once again to the lavender haired man frozen in fear.

"Is. . ." came the spluttering voice again.

Duodecimus's look of horror returned even more intensely than before. Vegeta was up again. The smoke cleared to reveal him standing there half naked thanks to the blast destroying patches of his leather pants of the Super Saiyan 4 and even his fur was singed and wounded in some clumps, causing the blood to thicken and merge with his crimson coloured coat.

His voice was a trembling cough; even after the first word he suddenly threw up a gallon of blood, but he carried on regardless. "Is. . That the best. . . The captain of the Vices. . . Has to offer?" he managed.

Duodecimus snarled; in his defeat he might've considered respecting the saiyan, but now that he was still alive the man proceeded to get on his nerves.

"Father don't!" cried Trunks.

"Insolent fool! You just don't know when to give up do you!" the Vicis accentuated his speech with a fast march over to where the saiyan was stood, determined to finish him off for good. Vegeta smiled as Duodecimus perceived him to be some kind of masochist, though that smile warped into a look of terror as he saw what was about to happen.

Trunks had leapt into the fray, powering up to his Super Saiyan 4 form and bringing down the full weight of his sword as Duodecimus neared the dying form of his beloved father.

"T-Trunks watch out!" cried Vegeta.

But it was already too late. The shrill whistle of a blade being stopped was the only thing Trunks heard before Duodecimus had turned around faster than he thought possible and caught the sword by its edge using only two fingers.

He flashed a sinister grimace, continuing in that terrifying voice. "Nice try."

Before the lavender haired hybrid could even comprehend his words he felt a fist being drove into his stomach, crushing half of his ribs in an instant and squeezing every breath from his lungs. It wasn't even enough to almost kill him with that one shot; Duodecimus then followed up on his attack, hurling Trunks across the floor where he kicked up metallic tiles before skidding to a halt. The Vicis drove in another fist to put Vegeta back on the floor and again made for the body of his fallen son. Trunks squirmed but lacked the energy to get to his feet after that monstrous attack. So too did Vegeta, but that didn't stop the poor saiyan from trying.

"Trunks. . Wait." He managed.

"Save your breath." called back Duodecimus, not even sparing a glance for his opponent. "Why don't you just lay there and die?"

"Trunks. . ."

This time Duodecimus ignored him completely, as he was now only a few paces away from the heir of the saiyan nobility; Vegeta's pride in its physical form. He was so fixated on getting rid of the easier opponent that he never even noticed that the pure-blooded saiyan was now up on one knee, charging up a furious blast of energy in his wounded arms that tapped into his very life's essence.

"_Final!_"

_That's not possible. . ._ Such was Duodecimus's shock and terror that he stopped and turned slowly from his spot; eyes wide open in frozen horror at the determination of this wretch. Surely he didn't have enough ki left to do any kind of damage to him, so why didn't he just die?

"_Shine!_"

In his arrogance the Vicis stood to take the blast head on and realised only at the last second that the emerald shining attack of vivid ki was much more potent than he realised. He held up a single arm upon instinct to protect himself as the beam detonated, blowing a huge amount of smoke Trunks's way and leaving Vegeta stood there, a mangled, bloody mess breathing laboriously and waiting in agony for the smog to clear. He dropped out of the Super Saiyan 4 form only after realising that if he kept it up for another few seconds the energy consumption would kill him right there.

"That. . ." spoke the voice from the ruin. "Hurt."

Both Vegeta and Trunks were stricken with looks of astonishment as the smoke cleared to reveal Duodecimus stood perfectly fine other than a mild burn mark dripping on his wrist, but even he looked horrified, as if the notion of him being hurt was so alien. Just then Vegeta's legs gave way despite his begging for them to stay rigid. He collapsed in a heap on the floor before him, powerless to even stand as his vision began to swim blurry colours again with a fog of blackness moving in from the corners of his eyes. This time though, he knew that if he let the darkness swallow him he'd never wake up; he was far past his limit and Duodecimus had only just gotten started.

He seemed furious, and Vegeta could only vaguely make out even half the words that came out of his mouth.

"_You_, shall pay for making me bleed. Do you have any idea of the act you just committed? You filthy saiyan scum!"

The insult towards his race struck a familiar nerve with the saiyan prince; though by now he was way too beaten up to even lift a finger to do it.

"You will die for hurting the right hand of a God Vegeta. But since you don't seem to die by normal methods I guess I'll just have make it slow and torturous; let me ask you, can you survive watching your son broken into pieces in that condition?"

"Trunks. . ." he croaked helplessly.

"_Now _you can behold my ultimate technique; I dare say you've earned the right to see it and you should be honoured to be eventually killed by it." Duodecimus stooped down and grabbed Trunks by the scruff of his jacket as Vegeta tried to cry out his name one more time only to hurl another gallon of blood. The Vicis sported an evil snarl. "_Gravity Manipulation!_"

The very implications of the words spelt bad news for the two saiyans; though experiencing it firsthand was the worst hell imaginable. As the handles on the clock face tattoo began to spin the immediate gravity began to swell, immediately to a height of well over three hundred and rising every second. This was child's play to Vegeta and even Trunks could more than handle it, but in the state their bodies were now in the pain became unimaginable, and it only ever got worse. Vegeta's joints and muscles cramped before buckling and tearing under the pressure as Trunks's screams became a torment, ringing clear in his ears despite their bad condition. He suspected the ability got even more potent the closer one got to Duodecimus and since Trunks had been seized by the neck he was stuck in the eye of the storm with neither able to do anything about it.

With his victory at hand Duodecimus started to laugh; a noise that sounded even more disturbing in his chilling voice over the agonising screams of the saiyan hybrid.

"You know they say it's a bad idea to push a saiyan into a corner like this; put him through hell with little he can do about it. But I've seen the limits of your power Vegeta. I know that right now you can go no higher."

Vegeta managed to pull a face of shock as Duodecimus suddenly snapped his fingers, and with that the gravity increased and the entire room was filled with the sound of the saiyan's voice: an exact quote from a conversation he'd had with Raditz a while ago.

"_I'm reaching the pinnacle of the strength of my super saiyan 4 form; I've almost mastered it completely. . . Let's face it Raditz, I'm an old man. I might look young, being a saiyan, but even I will feel the effects of aging soon, and I suspect it will begin with this limit I'm so close to reaching. There'll be no room for fighting among old men like me; if we ever get out of this mess I should just give it up and leave it to the next generation, they're strong enough as_ _it is."_

His voice rang clear for even Trunks to hear what he'd said. Duodecimus sniggered at the distraught response from the prince as even the Vynuls appeared to be laughing at. He could do nothing and Duodecimus knew it, but he wouldn't give up; it wasn't just a game with his own life anymore, he'd effectively gotten Trunks killed, he couldn't just sit by and watch. And so the prince scrabble away with bloody, clawing fingers, dragging himself across the floor of the hall at a snail's pace, further into the gravity field and further towards his son.

Even with Duodecimus's taunting he still carried on, slowly shuffling forwards from the flat of his stomach and leaving a thick trail of blood in his wake. The Vicis upped the gravity to over five hundred to spark a massive cry from Trunks and stop Vegeta in his tracks.

"It's useless!" he mocked. "You can do nothing to stop me so just die already! You're pathetic; a joke; an old man trying desperately to keep up with a career that's far past him. Why did you even come here old man? You've thrown yourself into the ring with a superior opponent and all it's done is get you and your son killed!"

Even as Duodecimus pushed the gravity to six hundred Vegeta gritted his teeth and inched closer. The strain on his body was worse than any physical torture he'd ever undergone; every twitch was the tearing of a ligament and every heave was the cracking of a bone.

Vegeta constantly reminded himself that Trunks's position was far worse. He'd since fallen unconscious which spared him the pain of hearing him scream, but he'd have no resistance from the gravity, making his bones easier to break. Seven hundred now; Vegeta let out a puff of exhaustion with the next heave and spat out another mouthful of blood before hearing a distinct snap. Trunks's left leg had broken like a twig, bending the other way in a sickening display.

"Oh which one shall it be next Vegeta?" taunted Duodecimus. "Will his arm break? Or his back maybe? Perhaps even his neck, what do you say? Shall I put the miserable thing out of his misery right now?"

He lifted a single meaty hand to Trunks's neck and clasped it firmly, and Vegeta knew full well that under this gravity the slightest twitch would break his like chalk. His own words echoed still around the hall and choruses of the words 'pathetic' and 'old man' from Duodecimus haunted his mind.

_Even if I reach Trunks what could I do other than die there next to him? Is this truly what it comes down to in the end? The limits of the Prince of all Saiyans? He's right after all; I'm just an old man now, it was foolish to come here. Trunks, Kakarot, I'm sorry. _

Another snap of Trunks's right arm made Vegeta wince and bite back what appeared to be tears of frustration; the sound only made him more determined to do something about it and his powerlessness angered him more than anything. He let it drive him forwards, clinging onto his last seconds of life as the smug bastard continued to laugh and taunt him. He let out a fierce war cry over the roar of the increasing noise of the gravity manipulation technique. Then, over the countless echoes of insults that came to his mind, one voice stood out, the voice of Kakarot, and something he'd told him a week ago

_No! This can't be it! I can't let Trunks and the others suffer for my mistakes! I have to get Trunks out of there no matter the cost. If just for one moment, let this NOT be the limits of MY STRENGTH!_

Suddenly, the tower began to rumble.

The entire structure of the Vices headquarters trembled in fear under an almighty strength as the saiyan known as Vegeta was covered in a pluming light of the harshest white ki. An earthquake rocked the tower as chunks of it broke away. Walls collapsed and entire cliff faces surrounding it were brought to the ground under the raw ki that was being emitted.

"W-What!" exclaimed Duodecimus, aghast with fear at the sight of this new development. "What's happening!"

No answer came, only the roar of a thunderous ki and the increasing war cry of a powering up Vegeta. In fact the shock was so much that it even roused Trunks, and under a massive sensation of pain he managed to open his eyes to witness the event.

_Is he. . . Transforming?_ He wondered.

* * *

_Hellooo, me again. This chapter might've taken longer than expected but I had to make sure I got it just right since this is one I've planned for aaages. Still, it ended up for the better in the end since I really like this one. The next promises to be good too, but sadly we won't find out what happens to Vegeta until the one after  
_


	28. Chapter 28 Potential Glimpsed

Chapter 28: Potential Glimpsed

"Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors!"

Repetitions of the chants of the famous game chorused around the great hall Goku and Gohan had arrived in just moments ago. They expected a Vicis would be here to greet them soon; and so they became engaged in a contest to see who exactly got the honour of fighting him.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" they cried again.

Gohan suddenly reacted in triumph, turning to face the door in his power up stance after proclaiming. "Rock wins!"

Goku looked downcast, like a puppy denied its evening meal; he'd thought for sure that coming here would land him a decent fight for sure, but now Gohan was having all the fun and he reckoned Vegeta and Trunks also were upstairs. He'd lost track of their ki signals suddenly, meaning that they'd either died, or more likely, engaged an enemy in combat. He suspected that he and Gohan's own power levels were also masked from the rest of the building in this hall, but he pushed those thoughts aside as another ki presented itself.

From the entrance on the far side of the hall a man strode into the clearing at a leisurely pace. He showed no emotion to go with a bleak, bored looking appearance and a deathly white face that screamed that he was more sinister than any before him. Pale green eyes peered out from behind a mass of thin charcoal locks to emphasise his empty stare, but aside from that he seemed unimpressive for a Vicis; lean and borderline skinny, so that his intimidating features remained only within his expression and the clock face tattoo upon his chest. It was the first thing Goku recognised, making no effort to hide a noise of dissatisfaction at the eleven o'clock signal.

"Aww, now _that's _annoying." He moaned. "I really wanted the captain, or to at least see him fight. Vegeta's gonna be so happy he got the number twelve."

"I'm not sure dad, this guy seems strong enough to me." advised Gohan. Silently he was thankful to have the lesser opponent, though lesser in this regard was saying little, as he was still pitted against the number eleven Vicis who's ki signal did not match his unimposing physical attributes.

"I can step in if you want?" Goku hopefully piped up.

"Thanks for the offer, but I at least wanna try my hand at him before I pass it on."

"Right."

With that, Gohan powered up into his first Ultimate form and made for a slow walk towards the smaller man.

"So, you're my opponent." Said the Vicis; voice barely above a whisper.

The saiyan nodded. "That's right. I'm Gohan."

The Vicis only smiled in response, and at that very moment Gohan saw a glimmer of something else other than emptiness. It was only for a second, but the overwhelming impression of a malevolent cruelty could be glimpsed as he replied. "Unidecimus."

"Well whatever your name is, you have our Room of Spirit and Time, and if-"

A hissing sound of Unidecimus breaking the level of speed followed by human eyes cut off Gohan's speech as he warped into action with a leaping punch aimed straight for Gohan's face with his guard exposed.

"Gohan watch out!" came the cry of Goku, who had naturally followed the move.

But Gohan was fast; he shifted his weight to the left, caught the hit with incredible speed and landed a jab connected squarely with the Vices' jaw. He followed through on his move with a three strike combo and finished it off with a flourishing kick to send the man into the air where he straightened himself out immediately.

_Wow, Gohan has really improved! _Goku observed. _He seems keen to show me his new strength, and it's really something impressive, but I've a feeling that this guy has more to him than meets the eye; if we were a level or two below eleven I wouldn't be worried, but something tells me he's just toying with Gohan_. The experienced saiyan watched in intrigue, trying to work out the Vices' strategy of attack even as Gohan attacked with a swift barrage. It was as he feared; looking closely he could see that Unidecimus dodged most of the attacks and took only the softer punches and kicks; as though he was trying to size up the saiyan's moves before attacking. This was proven when Unidecimus launched a counter-attack and instantly gained the upper hand.

Gohan was so surprised by the Vices' sudden burst in speed and strength that he almost lost focus, but even in keeping it he took a beating. Unidecimus been holding back until the time was right to exploit full use of a gaping opening for a massive assault to his every pressure point for huge damage. He knew the exact positioning and most effective strike to bruise every internal organ and bare muscle so that by the time he'd finished his combination Gohan was badly aching even after the short time.

This was where his cruelty could be seen physically, as through his attacks he seemed to specialise in and enjoy causing as much damage as possible whilst exerting himself as little as possible.

_Damn it! _Noted Gohan after a failed second attempt. _I just can't get through; if I keep this up he'll rupture or break something. But do I go to full power when I know he still has reserves?_

"You're open." Whispered the Vices' cold monotone. Gohan whirled around to see that Unidecimus had dashed to a spot behind him, leaving him wide open so that the Vicis could painfully drive the sharp bone of his right elbow straight into a soft, fleshy muscle right below the saiyan's shoulder blade. Intense pain akin to that of torture rushed to Gohan's back as the wind was forced out of him and he felt a sensitive bruise form on his very bone that forbade him from circling his arms unless he desired extreme pain.

"Gohan! Get up!" cried Goku. He could see right away that Unidecimus had raised a looming heel right over the spot where his son had keeled over, intending for a similar strike right to the back of his neck. Thankfully, Gohan reacted just in the nick of time, pushing past the pain of his agonising back and springing up into a looping kick whilst powering up into the pinnacle of his power; the second stage of his Ultimate form. It was the same form he'd used to dispatch of Octavius, sporting more subtle changes to his appearance as opposed to the glaring morph of the Super Saiyan. This was it; right now he was almost at the pinnacle of his power and if he had any sense, Unidecimus would mirror him if he wanted to stand a chance. He'd kicked the Vicis to the ground and chased after him with a football kick to the ribs before hurling him into the far wall with an explosion of smoke and a proclamation of "_Kamehameha!_"

Smoke fled the scene, and Goku lifted a hand to his face to stop the particles rushing to his eyes. He then felt multitude of ki signals approaching, and fearing the worst he turned to face the energies back in a combat stance. His expression suddenly softened as he heard the distinct voice of a panicking Goten coupled by the berating of Piccolo. With the sound of enemy Vynuls hitting the floor the pack soon came into view: Piccolo, Uub, Tien, Goten and Raditz rushed under the archway and into the grand hall to join their saviour and cheer on the confident fighter stood looking over the smoking ruin.

"How's he doing?" Piccolo asked, grabbing the attention of Raditz.

"Can't you see for yourself, he's creaming that guy!" proclaimed the saiyan.

"No." Goku shook his head, never taking his eyes off the battle. "I'm not so sure. Unidecimus hasn't shown his true strength yet, whereas Gohan might as well be maxed out."

"Does he stand a chance?" quizzed the namek.

"Let's hope so."

As if to validate Goku's fears the cold, remorseless looking Vicis strolled casually out of the clearing haze, causing each fighter to look on in shock; as he walked the clock face upon his undersized chest began to pulsate and spin rapidly, kicking up an enormous aura that magnified his power level and chased away the fixed tiles below him. His eyes turned a malevolent red though still kept those darkened pupils to show a glimmer of evil cruelty and now was the time to show it. In the few seconds it had took for him to power up Gohan had boosted himself to his very limits, though even he could not see the Vices' movements as he dashed forwards and attacked with a compact punch to a sensitive pressure point on his left shoulder.

Gohan winced and threw up his hands for defence, but Unidecimus only exploited this shelling up and bent into a powerful kick to the saiyan's fear-stiffened knee. Pain racked his leg as for one terrifying moment he thought his knee might bend the wrong way under the force of the man's attack. He was strong; stronger than he'd ever imagined to the point that Gohan knew that even if he trained nonstop for another whole two years he'd probably still lose to this guy. Unidecimus followed through with an odd move that looked to Gohan like some sort of high speed break-dance, but as lost track of the Vices' spinning limbs the reinforced titanium of his heel flew up to meet the saiyan's jawbone and send him careering across the hall's floor.

When he regained posture after along the tiles Gohan surveyed the damage; he'd seen instantly that Unidecimus knew how to kick. That heel had dislocated his jaw and cracked two of his side teeth to forge a bloody array of crimson spit. The jaw he pushed back into place wincing, and the teeth he knew Dende could heal in a heartbeat, though as soon as he found his focus Unidecimus was upon him once again. This time a hook met his left temple to daze Gohan and knock him to the ground but the Vicis kept pressure on; hitting him with simultaneous punches and kicks to keep him from falling over and dealing more damage before he let the man drop ten connections later.

"Gohan!" cried the saiyan's little brother. Dashing forwards with a Super Saiyan upsurge he made a break for the arena in an attempt to rescue the older sibling though was stopped before he reached three paces by his orange clad father placing a halting palm over his chest.

"Dad! What's the big idea!" he cried. "He's getting pounded out there!"

"Just wait. I won't let him die son, but this is his battle; he'd never forgive me if I intervened while he still has the will to fight."

Just then the whole room, and indeed the whole spire began to rumble and shake off parts of itself with a massive tremor. Parts of the ceiling broke off in a noisy clatter to form obstacles for Unidecimus to dodge whilst beating the tar out of Gohan. The hall shook with a violent quake that threw both Goten and Uub to the floor, causing Tien to look to Goku in protest.

"Goku! What's happening!" he asked.

The saiyan only smirked in genuine happiness upon realising just what was going on. Out of the eight beings present only he had any idea just what was happening upstairs. "It's Vegeta." He stated simply.

"Vegeta!" Raditz asked. "No way! I can't feel his ki at all!"

"That's because these rooms mask our signals, but trust me it _is _Vegeta." Goku reassured.

"For once just answer me one thing Goku; if it really is Vegeta, what the hell is happening to him!" demanded Piccolo.

"Well put it this way." Goku shrugged and let out a hollow laugh. "One way or another the battle upstairs is gonna come to a stop real soon."

Punch after punch met Gohan's pressure points and furious kicks collided with his organs to give him a sickly sensation that gave the impression of his entire body falling apart. A simple step-kick to the chest knocked him back onto the floor and after a few moments he groaned, pushing himself up and now sporting a thick river of blood leaking from a spot near his hairline. Unidecimus calmly stood looking completely indiffrent, which allowed him to mock his opponent.

"Why do you fight?" he queried simply. It was a question he could not understand thanks to him not having to comprehend the feeling of honour or determination or purpose. "You know you can't win. Give up and I may end it quickly."

Gohan ignored the comment, and spitting out another mouthful of blood he shakily got to his feet.

"Why do you fight?" Unidecimus repeated.

"Why do I fight? That's a dumb question." Said Gohan. Every other word was forced behind a pained gasp and a huge heave of effort on his part. "For my planet - for the universe! You think I'm just gonna stand here and let you guys get away with what you're doing? With that Room you could go to my planet, where my friends and family are all counting on me to stop you, and from what I've seen of you Vices I doubt you'll show them any kind of mercy!"

Unidecimus paused for a moment as though the obvious answer perplexed him. "So, for your planet? Your family? Friends? If you came here to save them, you should know that we don't need the Vessel to destroy a pathetic system like your own."

"What!" Gohan exclaimed. It was not just him, but almost all of the Z-Fighters cried the same terrified cry and harboured a look of disbelief.

"So that is your reason, if so I shall crush that purpose and rid you of the trouble of fighting this meaningless battle." Unidecimus then beckoned with a strange hand signal whereupon a whole troop of Vynuls poured into the room upon his command. There could've been twenty or more of them, and Gohan's gut told him that he meant to do something wicked with every one of them.

"Inter-dimensional transportation may be impossible without the Vessel for beings as powerful as the Vices, but for basic creatures like these Vynuls it is but a simple matter." As the Vicis spoke he savoured the horrified eyes of the watching fighters. He turned to address the hulking Vynuls "Now listen, all of you. You will go to Earth, and this man here; you will destroy everyone he has ever cared for slowly before laying his entire planet to waste. _Vortex Open!"_

Before any could stop him Unidecimus had cast a hand and opened a small, swirling violet portal that the troop of Vynuls each threw themselves into. On the other side there was the sight of a countryside that could not be mistaken for any planet other than Earth and no sooner had he sent the group through the vortex did he close it up, leaving the Z-Fighters aghast with a look of panic.

"Goku!" Piccolo turned to the head saiyan. "Get us back to Earth, we have to stop them before they destroy the planet!"

It was a sound point; all the Earth's most powerful fighters were gathered here in a completely separate dimension where they could do no good. Throughout the ordeal though, Goku's expression had remained neutral, and now he sported a wide grin upon the chance to spring a plan he thought he'd never get to use. "Don't worry Piccolo, the Earth is safe. I told you already; I sorted it all out!"

"You said that earlier! But Goku you can't expect us to just go on your word when he's just released two dozen of those things onto our planet!" Piccolo insisted.

Despite having the utmost trust in their usual saviour, the remaining four Z-fighters stood by the sidelines had to agree. They each nodded their heads in agreement as Piccolo demanded to know why there was no good reason he shouldn't tell them of what plans he had. Eventually Goku gave in and dramatically threw his hands up in resigation.

"Alright alright!" he joked. "And I really wanted to make it a bigger surprise too. . ."

"What! What is it! What kind of plan do you have?" Piccolo repeated.

"Well alright then, I guess I'll have to tell you guys." The Z-fighters all leaned in as Goku sported a boastful expression of the utmost pride in his scheme. "You remember back when I re- uhh, re. . . What's the word again?"

"Rejuvenated."

"-_Rejuvenated _Chi-Chi and Bulma?" Goku continued, waiting until the five of them nodded. "Well, as you know I did that to keep us from outliving our partners. Then again, I never said that Chi-Chi and Bulma were the only people I gave the wish to. There's someone else I re-. . . Uh. . . Made younger. "

"Who?" Goten asked. He and the others scratched their heads as they tried to figure out who among their broad group of warriors was in the same boat as Bulma and Chi-Chi.

Piccolo however, was the only one who got it right away. "I see. Good plan Goku; I must say I never expected such a cunning move from you."

"But who is it!" Uub yelled, joining the others in their manic confusion.

"Well this may seem obvious. . . But androids don't really age either." said Goku. That was all he had to say. A broad smile came to his lips in watching the gears slowly turn in his comrade's minds. There was one other in the same situation – one other married to a partner who didn't age.

Tien looked ecstatic. "You mean the person you rejuvenated! It's-"

"It sure is; Looks like we're all coming out of retirement." Goku stated.

* * *

Bulma and Chi-Chi exchanged merry words of small talk in the open sun out in the garden of the modest household of the Briefs after a trying day shopping and trying out new clothes in the new bodies they still hadn't become fully accustomed to. A tall pair of filled cocktails stood by the table and the swimming pool glistened under the full glare of the solar rays. They debated about hosting another party as soon as their families got back and this whole affair was over with, as last time there had been a few faces who hadn't shown and it was always spectacular to see a person's expression when they saw that Goku had returned with their own eyes. They'd spend the next few hours sunbathing with the wind never picking up over a cool breeze as each slowly formed a tan. If either of them had any glimmer of ki recognition they'd panic in noticing the monstrous array of power levels that had recently landed on the planet, and run in seeing that they made right for their direction. They'd also notice another excitable ki approaching fast with the wind; this one much more powerful than the rest by a long shot.

It took an explosion suddenly shaking up the garden from half a mile away for the two women to finally realise that something was amiss. Bulma focussed her eyes to the sky, and to her horror she saw within ten seconds the sight of twenty or so horrific monsters approaching; grey, lanky and hunched over, each bony and almost skeletal with some kind of odd deformity to set them aside from any natural born creature. One broke off from the squad and led the Vynuls in a rapidly accelerating dive bomb straight towards Bulma and Chi-Chi to make the women suddenly clutch each other and squeal in fear as they'd each done so many times back in the old days. Normally someone swooped in to save them, but now there'd be no one; all the men still fighting were in another dimension battling for their lives unable to do a thing to save them.

Or so they thought.

"_Destructo Disk!_" A familiar voice rung through the air punctuated by the razor sharp buzz of the signature attack. A ki disk of the brightest yellow essence then curved down and proceeded to saw the leading Vynul in half with an acidic shower of the darkest black blood. The orange clad fighter then landed to face the oncoming troop of monstrosities with his back facing the two women, and he had a feeling that even if he turned to them they'd still take a few moments to realise who exactly he was. From the orange gi and symbol of the Turtle Hermit Master Roshi covering the back of his outfit he was clearly a fighter of this world. He barely touched the five foot mark and was characterised by a distinctive, reflecting shaven head and a constant expression of fun loving juvenility and optimism so similar to that of his best friend Goku.

_Is that. . ._Bulma wondered, trailing off. _It can't be. . ._ A second Vynul swooped in as experimental bait to test the man's strength and it was only as the Z-Fighter spun into a high roundhouse kick to dispatch of it did Bulma get a proper look at his face. "_Krillin!__?_" she cried, unable to believe her eyes. "Is that you!"

As he turned to meet their gaze Bulma and Chi-Chi both got immediately got the impression that Krillin had simply spawned a son and not told them about it before remembering that Goku had restored their youth; he'd no doubt done the same thing to Krillin too.

"It sure is ladies! And I'm back in action!" he announced, holding up a solid arm for a ki burst upon a third Vynul's attack. He looked exactly as he did back in his prime; muscular and nimble; in perfect shape to fight and appearing not a day over twenty. "Put the experienced moves of an old man in a younger body, then combine that with the power boost Goku added on top of that and these guys are a walk in the park."

It was only then that Bulma remembered that she hadn't seen Krillin at their last party during Goku's return; at the time she'd thought it strange, as he'd always been the man's best friend, but now she knew that Goku had probably approached him earlier about the fact that he'd awoken in a younger form with a higher power level, and he'd no doubt been training to get accustomed to the new body ever since.

"Goku said he needed someone to protect the Earth while he and the others were away and that he couldn't think of anyone better to do the job than me. _HAH!" _Krillin made a noise of effort and unleashed an explosive punch to smash another Vynul into the pool. "Frankly I'm honoured! I haven't felt this good in years! I feel like I could take on those Vices all by myself!"

Utilising the fullest potential of his newfound power, Krillin used his impressive speed to made sure that not a single blast or opponent got by him as they rained down one by one. The women would be safe and he'd protect the entire Earth from these monstrous creatures while his friends fought in another dimension. It was only now that he'd gotten back into the fighting spirit did he realise just how much he'd missed the good old days when he was still active, and if anything this second chance prompted him to give it another shot. After another two Vynuls attacked he decided to take on the entire horde.

"Solar Flare!" he cried, demonstrating the wide hand sign and following up his blinding flash with five Destructo Disks before launching up to take on the last eight all at once for a drawn out sequence of hand to hand combat.

* * *

"Goku that's great! You're a genius!" Uub exclaimed.

Goku beamed and scratched his head bashfully. He saw from the corner of his eye a vague glimmer of irritation coming over Unidecimus's expression. He was cold, empty and devout of emotions, but after Goku had done him over without lifting a finger himself it would be impossible to not be annoyed by his ruse. Clearly these saiyans were craftier than he gave them credit for, and what they lacked in strength compared to beings such as himself they made up for in unexpected cunning and fighting experience. Worst of all, they'd succeeded through teamwork and faith in one another; those were the kind of attributes that made the Vicis cynic sick to his stomach.

"Dad. ." Gohan croaked; he was back on one knee dripping splashes of blood to stain the spotless flooring. "That's fantastic. Nice work, I can't wait to see him."

A single glare from Unidecimus seemed to burn into Gohan's very mind as he turned back to the beaten up saiyan looking even more murderous than before. He held up a hand, and from it launched a highly potent blast of green ki to shut the man up. The Z-Fighters looked on in horror; that move could've finished Gohan, and beyond the wayward smokestack his ki could barely be felt. A white-hot explosion that almost covered the entire arena had been blasted away from the force, making the whole room a distinct ruin. Eventually the smoke cleared to reveal the unconscious Gohan; barely breathing and broken in three places, but hanging on to life even with the inconsequential amount of ki he had left.

Unidecimus was upon him and now grinning with all that cruel, sadistic malice he harboured. He raised a single hand that danced with ki, making for the finishing move with a massive charge of energy.

"Gohan!" Goten cried. It was no use; if any of them moved he'd fire, but if they stood still he'd kill him anyway, only no one wanted to be the one to pull the trigger. While many stayed rooted to the spot in fear, one saiyan intervened. In the blink of an eye Goku had come between them, standing in front of his son's unconscious body to come between Unidecimus and his kill.

Thanks to him being in the form of an innocent child for their previous few threats, the group hadn't seen Goku any more serious than he was now in decades. The immature, jolly saiyan sported a deep frown and a warning glare; as though he were moments away from snapping with an unparalleled anger at the man making a move to murder his own son. "That's enough." He said. "You've had your fun."

_What? What was that! _Raditz wondered, taking note that the others didn't notice anything wrong. At a first glance it seemed as though Goku had used the instant transmission technique, but it couldn't have; Raditz saw the distinct twitch of a blisteringly fast dash before Goku disappeared from his view. He'd followed his movements for the briefest of moments before he lost track completely. _Was that really a move? How did he get so fast? He couldn't move at half those speeds when sparring with me! Was he really just toying with us all along?_

"Excuse me?" uttered the unfazed Vicis.

"You heard. That's enough; he can't fight anymore, you just want the satisfaction of killing him. . . You're a monster."

"My actions offend you? What nonsense. He's pathetic – unworthy of challenging someone like me, so why should I let him live? Stand aside so I can end this. I'll deal with you next."

Goku inhaled deeply in a bid to contain his rage, shoulders relaxing and cooling down. This man was evil to the core; irredeemable with no understanding of compassion or the right to live. "You'll deal with me _now_. _I'm _your new opponent." He insisted. The man spared a look of control back to the other fighters on the sidelines for complete reassurance to them that he knew what he was doing.

Despite each of them wanting a crack at these powerful foes, none dared question Goku's decision to fight this man personally; that look in his eye was something they rarely saw, and whenever it was displayed it meant the man was a hundred percent serious and completely focussed on the battle. Even Raditz, who wanted a turn more than anything could see that Goku was not to be disturbed – besides; perhaps now he'd be able to see the true extent of his power.

The two squared off in a stare down each into glaring eyes that hungered for battle after swiftly moving away from Gohan's unconscious mass. Goku gave a quick stretch and tightened the knot on his belt, bracing himself with another deep breath.

"So are you going to fight or not?" chided Unidecimus. "I thought you were my opponent; give me you fullest Goku, I want to see exactly what you can do. . . You know I see through your game plan – you intend to save your energy for your fight against the master, well in order to get to him you'll have to use no less than your maximum against me."

"My maximum huh?" Goku mused. He eventually nodded and dropped into a basic power up stance; this was it, the moment Raditz had been waiting for. A humming sound like the noise of a generator powering up could be heard as the man's aura and hair turned to a viscous golden hue and his ki level shot up with it.

"Now this is a Super Saiyan." he announced. "This form is the makes up the base of my power."

Unidecimus nodded, noticing the drastic changes while looking unfazed at the powerful ki as Goku pushed it even higher. The spikes protruding atop his head suddenly thinned into a show of longer and more pointed golden hair along with an increase in power and a new aura littered with tiny bolts of unstable lightning.

"And this is a Super Saiyan 2; believe it or not the first person to attain this form was Gohan, the man you just beat to a pulp."

The Vicis still looked unimpressed, with that hollow stare of his casting a fleeting glance over at the downed warrior who lay at the ringside. "Very good, but shall we skip with the pleasantries? You know you can't beat me in that form so why bother showing it to me? Show me your maximum; I want to show you that even your limit at the fourth level is still nothing to me.

"You asked me to show you exactly what I can do, and I'd pay close attention if I were you." Goku's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Once I pass through these stages you'll never lay eyes on them again."

Unidecimus only smiled in genuine amusement, watching closely as Goku mumbled a tiny glimmer of effort to push his body into an even more radical form, sporting hair of a similar length to his brother's and an even more impressive power level.

"Super Saiyan 3; back in the day this was powerful, but it used up way too much energy to be efficient for long stretches. I actually had to be dead in order to master it properly."

The number eleven considered asking the man again to speed up this process; then again there was only one level left to go and his friends at the ringside seemed enthralled, as no matter how many times they saw it they were still amazed watching when someone else transformed. He merely wanted to see the looks on their faces when he smashed that hope into the ground.

Another grunt of effort followed as Goku's body was pushed even further, morphing him into a completely different form altogether, complete with an actual fur coating of the deepest scarlet whilst his eyes turned yellow and almost cat-like in nature. Part of his hair had receded back to his original charcoal black and hung loosely over his shoulders and the rest was styled aloof in all directions. "Super Saiyan _4!_" he cried, conveying a tone of even more distress. He continued through gritted teeth and fists clenched so tightly his nails drew blood his palms. "Now _this _form is what you get when a saiyan of a higher Super Saiyan strength can control the blutzwaves of the moon."

Unidecimus was now laughing, as he was barely threatened by this new form; the Super Saiyan 4 he knew was the limits of Goku's strength and of any saiyan's potental, but this form was even weaker than that of his unworthy spawn. "Surely you jest? _That _is your full power? This is going to be easier than I thought."

The Vices' quip was met only by the still increasing ki signal irradiating from Goku's flared aura as he continued ascnding. The Vicis presumed that he was merely pushing himself to the maximum of what this form could attain, but his power still soared with no signs of deceleration. He cocked an eyebrow in confusion and found his answer in the suddenly appearing grin of confidence coming to Goku's lips.

"That's where you're wrong!" he boldly declared.

"_What?_" the stunned response of a scared whisper came from not only Unidecimus but also every Z-Fighter stood watching in shock as Goku took in their reactions of surprise. He didn't need to explain himself anymore, only back up his claim, and so he began on a rising cry of concentration as his ki continued to rise.

_I knew it! _Raditz marvelled in hearing the 'Aaaaaa-' drone of a constant power up; seeing enormous hunks of the flooring beneath him slowly rise and crumble from the pressure. Nearby pillars disintegrated under the power and soon the crater beneath him had become so deep that he'd burned right through the floor to the level beneath them. _But – no way! How! What the hell could be more powerful than a Super Saiyan 4! It's just not possible! _But the saiyan's doubts were cast aside as the hero's power had now increased far beyond that which the form could handle and his body became enveloped in a blinding shine of white light as he began to undergo a drastic change in appearance.

A cloud of smoke erupted from the saiyan, as in letting out one final burst of a deep war cry he pushed himself to his very maximum and at last found the power he needed. Dust settled and the roar of the intake had finally settled. Now all that could be heard were footsteps; those of a calm walk, dragged out ever so slowly for a theatrical emphasis. The smoke cleared out of the broken wall at the room's far end, and Goku finally emerged from the ruin of his own making.

If the Z-fighters thought the Super Saiyan 4 attributes were intimidating, this new look seemed and twice as deadly. Goku's shoes and pants had been changed from the dusty martial arts equipment into a pair of silver lined training boots and a new pair of trousers, black in colour and almost shimmering, as though made out of some kind of dull velvet cloth. His chest retained the same fur trimmed outlook as before, though this time it was toned with a shade of orange resembling his trademark gi, only darker and far more distinctive to highlight expanded muscles. At even gaps upon the sides of his ribs were painted three curved strikes of gold on each side, pointing towards one another and each one sharp as a blade. His chest and arms had expanded so he looked more defined than ever, and he flexed his arms in getting to grips with the new form to show a pair of the same coloured golden marks on each arm. The real changes though, remained within Goku's face. The coloured borders that surrounded his eyes had become thicker and more contrasting than before to give a more intimidating appearance, whilst the eyes themselves were the centrepiece.

That same golden yellow of Goku's Super Saiyan 4 remained, but this time something was different; the eyes glowed like the shining orbs of a dense ki blast; without pupils and fixated with all their commanding authority in a focussed glare at Unidecimus that was so threatening that the Vicis was forced to break eye contact. After a few moments the eyes simmered and Goku's pupils emerged, as though he'd somehow calmed down just a little, though within the surrounding irises still shone that golden flare of wildfire.

The saiyan's hair had also changed drastically, transforming from those thick locks of hair into thinned and sharper spikes that grew out more fiercely whilst still following the usual direction. Even more noticeable was the aura of the man himself, as the pure flame of the Super Saiyan 4 had been replaced with an even more bursting inferno complete with four distinct pillars of shoulder high bio-electricity dancing their way in a choreographed circle around him, each with their own cackling arcs of lightning to accompany them. This was it; a new form had finally been discovered, and by none other than Goku himself.

"And this. . ." said Goku, his voice sounding even deeper and more gravelly than the fourth. "This is the form I obtained from training in Shenron's dimension: A Super Saiyan 5."

"Woo! Go dad! That transformation looks _awesome_!" cheered Goten in seeing that the form left Unidecimus stricken with an expression of horror.

"I knew you were hiding something Goku! Why didn't you show us that before!" Raditz protested.

Goku raised a hand to innocently paw his head, showing that despite being angered he still maintained his trademark cheer of a young boy. "I know, I'm sorry; I would have, but this form takes a lot of effort to pull off and I didn't know whether or not I could do it on cue."

Raditz nodded, though privately he was dissatisfied with the answer. _Hmph, couldn't do it on cue? What crap; more like you just love to be dramatic._

"The fact that you powered up when Gohan transformed means you at least have enough sense to know when you're outmatched." Goku said, turning back to his slightly trembling foe. "You can't win against me. I'll give you three chances to leave before I act. This is your first." Upon his last five words the saiyan's eyes then glowed back into a fixed, solid stare of intimidating golden-yellow. "I suggest you take them."

Unidecimus did nothing and only considered on his actions for a few moments. He was a man of almost no emotions, but this saiyan made him feel powerless, belittled and ashamed. No; he couldn't run back with to Duodecimus with his tail between his legs – he had to end this one way or another. He reckoned that with the Super Saiyan 5 being relatively new, Goku would have far less control over it than he had over his own abilities.

And so without another thought Unidecimus charged, streaming into a palm-strike aimed for a critical spot on the saiyan's jugular. His hand struck like the swing of an executioner's axe with full force and came a mere hair away from the man's body before Goku acted. None saw his move; one moment his hands had been by his side, and the next his right seemed to warp in front of him, grabbing Unidecimus's arm with a vice-like grip and twisting it violently. Panicking, the Vicis flipped over to follow Goku's reversal to the flat of his back to ensure his arm was not broken, never realising that the gentle man would never have done anything of the sort.

"That's two." Goku warned calmly.

Unidecimus snarled as he got to his feet, taking in the notion that not even his observing fighters at the sideline had seen any flicker of movement as his hand snapped up. His arm was sore was from the Goku's turnaround but the sheer frustration of it made him even more eager to attack. He leapt into the air and charged a vast tide of ki into both arms that then shone with a brilliant golden essence. Each Z-Fighter at the arena's edge knew that this blast could've destroyed any one of them if it connected, so forgetting about Goku's newfound power they each cried out.

"Goku! Watch out!"

But the saiyan did nothing. He stood calm; preparing to take the attack head on to test the limits of his strength as Unidecimus smiled in satisfaction; this was exactly what he'd hoped for. Once his ki had been fully stored the Vicis unloaded an enormous barrage of man-sized energy blasts that streamed like a shower of golden fireworks from the palms of his hands. With each thrust of the palms another blast was produced so that by the time he'd finished a small army of a hundred flare-like projectiles that homed in towards Goku's general direction.

Goku smiled. A rising cry suddenly rumbled from his throat as he flared up his ki level for a quick display of higher strength. With his wail of effort the surrounding aura of a volcanic eruption and the four columns of lightning flared out to a massive diameter; it almost suffocated him with his own ki, but it ensured that the incoming missiles were either vaporised or detonated prematurely under the heavy pressure. For the first time Unidecimus looked utterly horrified; to have enough control over such a powerful transformation and be able to block his attacks with just the power of his surrounding aura? He knew he'd barely scratched the surface of seeing the Super Saiyan 5's potential, and even at this stage his power could rival that of Duodecimus.

"That's three." Goku continued. "This is your last chance. I'd think carefully about your next move; if you attack again you'll leave me with no choice, so if you just leave right now and give me your word that you'll never-"

"_Whip of Torment!"_

The group paused; apparently Unidecimus had grown sick of being toyed with and finally summoned up his signature technique. Out of thin air a supple whip materialised, coloured in a deep green and made up of unstable, cackling ki that the group knew would be razor sharp and ideal for inflicting painful wounds and lacerations on powerful fighters. He raised it high over his head and sneered.

Goku intervened. "Last chance." He reminded.

This would be a deciding attack for Unidecimus; if he landed a direct hit he could surely cripple the saiyan thanks to the thick wire of bladed energy, but if it failed Goku would be through messing around and go on the offensive; utilising the strength of that orange coated, powerful looking Super Saiyan 5. But he too was through with playing games, and this was his ultimate technique that had never once failed him in battle. And so after a final flourish of the vibrant green whip; Unidecimus brought his arm down, extending its length by infusing more of his own energy to put it in range of the spiky haired saiyan.

"Have it your way."

A flash of green light signalled the lashing and made each Fighter cover their eyes due to the harshness of the light. Essentially the whip was more like a chainsaw, using rapidly vibrating particles of energy to cut through almost anything. That was, anything except Goku. A hissing crack filled the room with the connection as the group squinted to see the battle that had suddenly stopped. Sure enough, Goku had caught the whip's lightning fast of energy with a right hand and now firmly clutched it, staring back at Unidecimus as his hand fizzed with protective ki of his own. Suddenly he jerked back his arm, and in gripping the whip's handle Unidecimus lurched forwards and into the incoming fist of a Super Saiyan 5. The first strike happened so fast and exerted so much force that the six that followed it could barely be felt by the dazed Vicis, and it was only when Goku threw him back across the room did he feel the bone cracking bruises forming at his ribs and cheeks.

But he was not alone; no one knew what exactly happened other than Goku throwing a monstrous combination, and once more this only served to anger the empty husk of a man even further. Goku sighed; seeing that Unidecimus still had the will to fight left him no option; he had to end this quickly to avoid spending up too much of his energy. He fell into a wide stance, firmly planting his feet on the floor and cupping both hands into a coiled position by his side as he began to intake energy.

"Is that. . ?" Raditz muttered, experiencing some minor confusion. "The Kamehameha?"

Piccolo recognised his student's perplexity as he studied the move further. He'd seen and taken the Kamehameha blast a thousand times before and something was definitely out of place here. Streaks of blue light swirled in from the atmosphere to form a tight ball of glowing energy at the palms of his hands and its power increased with each second. "It looks like it, but somehow it's different than before. The pose is wider and the intake looks a bit more. . . Flashy."

After a few moments the two had their suspicions confirmed. A surrounding barrier of sharp blue ki painted a circle in the floor around his feet and cut into the surface of the room, splaying up into what appeared to be a fire of azure energy dancing in a perfect circle around him.

"This is something new." Stated Piccolo.

"_Dragon! . ." _began Goku.

Raditz turned. "Did he say dragon?"

"_KAME! . ." _drawled the fighter. The close border rose up into a ten foot high wall of a transparent blue inferno; and aura _within _his own aura of fire and lightning. The move caused Unidecimus to cock an eyebrow in confusion; he'd studied every one of Goku's moves through time, but never before had he seen a Kamehameha anything like this.

"_HAME! . ." _Higher the encircling blue flame spiralled until it was effectively bursting with light, cracking the earth around it with its high pressure contained within such a thin and unstable membrane. Goku's hands then suddenly widened as he inflated the orb from the size of a baseball to a football and restricted it with his ki. The sphere spewed out individual rays of blue like some kind of one colour disco ball, signifying that it was primed and ready to destroy.

"_HAAAA!" _

Goku roared out the final syllable, thrusting both his arms forwards into that instantly recognisable pose and rocketing the upgraded attack towards his foe. Like any normal Kamehameha, the technique manifested itself as a harsh beam of azure light, though this one was far more potent; the length of the beam still looked raw and unstable in its projected form as opposed to its usual flatness, and its power was far beyond the limits of even Gogeta's Big Bang Kamehameha, but the biggest difference was located at the tip of the beam itself. Rather than being headed by a smooth, oval shaped sphere, the attack's front twisted and morphed itself into a different shape; what appeared to be the small head of a ferocious blue dragon led the beam towards the cowering figure of Unidecimus and suddenly reared its head for an unstable roar of power as it crashed into the Vicis in a colossal explosion that filled the room with blue mist for a full few minutes.

With the fight over Goku powered down to his regular state, transitioning from the dark orange fur to the lighter coloured gi and watching his own hair thicken out into upright waves as he sighed in relief. "Woo!" he gasped, regaining his childish attitude immediately.

"I guess after all these years I shouldn't be so surprised." Piccolo finally stated. He across to his ex arch-rival with a look of approval.

"Ahh you know me Piccolo."

"Whoa Goku! You just annihilated that guy!" cried Uub.

Goku shook his head. "I held back enough so that I didn't kill him. If he still wants to continue I'll deal with him when he regains consciousness in a few days; either way he'll be in no state to fight for at least a couple of weeks."

_He was holding back!_ Wondered Raditz in disbelief.

"But – but what the hell _was _that move!"

"The Dragon Kamehameha!" Goku suddenly looked proud of himself and the technique he'd clearly gleaned from training with Shenron. "My new ultimate technique! I can still fire off the old ones just fine, but if it's a massive final blast of destructive force I'm looking for. . . Well I'd go see Vegeta, but if _that_ fails the Dragon Kamehameha is my last resort!"

Uub looked confused. "But that wasn't a last resort – you had him on the ropes!"

"Yeah but I've never actually tried it on an actual opponent before. If I'd have held back any more power I wouldn't have been able to pull it off, but if I'd put any more in he'd be dead."

Uub was about to ask a million other questions when a faint moan sounded from the centre of the hall. Gohan was stirring, and after a few moments he pushed himself to a sitting position, rubbing his eyes and trying to recollect what happened. Already the natural quickened healing of a saiyan warrior was getting to work in dulling the bruises and scabbing over the cuts he'd sustained. His face was white from being low on energy, though he still managed to talk through the fatigue.

"Did you beat him Dad?" he asked, remembering the events.

Goku nodded with a smile as suddenly Goten rushed past him cheering manically.

"Aw man Gohan you should've seen it! It was awesome! Absolutely spectacular!" he began, engaging Gohan in a detailed description of the Super Saiyan 5 whilst still being in marvel at its strength.

"So Goku." Said Tien, pointing to the roof. "That Super Saiyan 5; that's what's happening to Vegeta right?"

"Hmm." Goku scratched his head; putting these kinds of things in words was hardly his strong suit. "Sort of." He replied.

"What does 'sort of' mean?" quizzed Piccolo.

"Well as you probably know, the power of the Super Saiyan increases in the difficulty it takes to unlock them with each stage of it. But the fifth stage; it's on a whole new level of toughness. It's not like the others; levels one to four can be attempted at again and again until you finally achieve them, but once someone starts the process of the fifth there's only two possible outcomes. The first is achieving that power."

"And the second!" Raditz demanded. Goku had alluded to it before and the bushy haired saiyan had a horrible feeling that his brother was about to confirm his suspicions.

Goku continued. "If a person starts the process and then can't summon up the strength to activate the fifth level. . ." his eyes looked to the floor as he remembered Vegeta's uncertainties in himself about his own abilities, which would no doubt make the event much more difficult. "Then they die."

* * *

_Dun dun duuuun. Wow I could write a whole chapter of notes on this one. Well for starters the reason it's kinda late is for a few reasons._

_1: Even though I stated that I wanted to finish this before the Summer term's end, sadly I went back to education this time in the form of University on monday so that's taken a lot of time off. I'm not too bothered though; if you consider that this Summer I've gone from chapter 15 or 16 all the way to this and then consider that it's probably more than 50'000 words I'm not disappointed. Plus this is close enough to being finished for me to say I gave it a good crack and it was originally supposed to only be about this long anyway. _

_2: The chapter itself. Seriously, between getting everything right and putting it into a massive length this thing took me ages, and like I said before it's one I planned almost from the beginning so I wanted it to be as perfect as I could make it._

_ 3: . . . HALO F***ING REACH. . . That is all_

_I know the Super Saiyan 5 might not float everyone's boat but honestly the way I envision it looks badass; I wanted it to be kind of like what the Super Saiyan 2 was to the Super Saiyan only applied to the 4th level with some adjustments. I meant to draw it out, in fact I still have a half-finished drawing of Vegeditz that I couldn't get around to doing properly, but if I do ever get around to drawing it out I'll post a link on here._

_And finally there's the issue of Krillin's return; I know it might seem lazy and tacked on but if you look in one of the previous chapters (I'm to tired to check atm) there's a section that covers one of the group's gatherings and Krillin's name never appears because I wanted to leave it open. I always felt he was just one of those characters that fell by the wayside unjustly; in Dragon Ball and the first half of Z he was awesome and then just sort of never got used again. Don't even get me started on GT - he's supposed to be like early fifties! They make him look about seventy! Christ! It was almost as bad as Vegeta's moustache phase! So yeah, I really just wanted to give him some kind of role even if it was a small one.  
_


	29. Chapter 29 Potential Unleashed

Chapter 29: Potential Unleashed

Darkness.

This was the only sight and overpowering feeling that met the saiyan Prince upon his regaining consciousness. For a while he drifted with tightly shut eyes through infinite space, knowing that if he opened them he'd surely meet death and the soul-crushing sight of the check-in station. He'd failed and he knew it better than any; he remembered crawling weakly with the full extent of his legendary determination through the high gravity field his opponent had generated, and even that god-like trait that had helped him against so many foes had been inconsequential against this one. But something else had happened too; he was sure he'd experienced something else before he'd passed out, and in his pondering the saiyan suddenly forgot to keep his eyes shut and away from the terrifying sight.

However what greeted Vegeta was not death. He opened his eyes and instinctively closed them to a squint due to the harsh light given off by his immediate environment. For a moment he mistook it for the odd surroundings of the check-in station, but in seeing that there were no souls or in fact any noticeable objects in sight he changed his view and mistook it for the void of the Room of Spirit and Time. The setting suitably fitted as the prince was surrounded on all sides by nothing but bleached white nothingness. Something was amiss here too; for starters the lobby of the Room was nowhere to be seen and most importantly, the gravity here was nonexistent.

Vegeta simply floated around through an empty abyss, and after his eyes had readjusted themselves he effectively swum through heaving pushes to ground himself on the almost transparent flooring.

_Where the hell is this? _He wondered to himself. The man looked around to try to catch any significant objects though to no avail; this construct was utterly featureless and his ki senses picked up nothing other than the waveringly nervous and frustrated energy signal he himself exerted. "_If I'm dead then why don't you get it over with and send me down there!_" he hollered into the void. Having faced the despair of failing everyone he knew was bad enough, but worse was the knowledge that the patrons of the afterlife were intentionally screwing with him.

This wasn't what he wanted; right now he simply wished to be left alone to atone for his failures and come to terms with what had happened. A few moments passed before his question was seemingly answered. Suddenly a glimmer of gold caught his eye, and looking up revealed to him that a small chip of floating gold had formed a few inches above his head and it took him a second to figure out what the thing was. Hovering smartly above his mountain of hair was the makings of a halo, but instead of the full thing only a tiny smidgen of a line was present.

_What's the deal? Why hasn't a full one appeared yet?_

For a minute or so Vegeta simply stared up at the gold chip of light, and focussing his vision revealed that second by second the thing was lengthening on either side, soon becoming an eighth of a full circle in a small space of time.

_What the? . . Am I dead or not! What is this stupid game? This never happened before! _After getting over the inevitable fear the Prince took a moment to calm himself and assess the situation rationally and it was only then that he noticed something peculiar. _Wait. . . _He tapped the floor with his foot and hopped up a little. _Why is the gravity back to normal? _True enough, the space-like atmosphere had thickened without his knowing into a regular one much closer to that of Earth.

But Vegeta's rhetorical musing was cut short in an instant, as suddenly from the ground ahead burst the head of a Great Ape, this one black in colouration and emerging from the floor like a giant worm burrowing its way to the surface and breathing life for the first time in years. Vegeta threw himself backwards in an instinctive glide to get some space before realising that this creature was a far cry from any Great Ape he'd ever encountered before. As its shoulders and chest emerged it became apparent that the thing was outright titanic; in fact when the primal beast pulled itself out and straightened up to full height Vegeta reckoned it must've been four times the size of the regular Great Ape form and three times that of its Golden variant. He doubted his whole body would cover the length of one of its fangs, but sizing it up would do no good, as suddenly it raised a boat-sized black paw and swatted down towards the saiyan Prince.

In a burst of warp speed Vegeta evaded the move and fell into a swift sprint away from a second attack. He attempted to power up as he ran, though to his dismay found that he lacked the ability to power up into even the first stage of Super Saiyan, or concentrate any of his ki for that matter. It mattered little anyway; utilising his usually heightened senses Vegeta could tell that this beast was a lifetime away from even his most powerful form.

_Is this some kind of test! _He wondered, throwing himself into a close roll away from the beast's stomp. _I get it; I have to beat him before this halo completes its rotation – yeah right. I was no match for Duodecimus, so what makes whichever clown running this scheme think I can take on a creature like this? _With a fist powering forwards to a spot just ahead of him Vegeta had no choice but to flee to the skies. He leapt high enough to put himself level with the beast's waistline where he could ponder on the situation even further. _Maybe it's some kind of trick - perhaps that massive energy is an illusion and that size is all just for show._

Even though Vegeta severely doubted his own thesis he figured that the only way was to test it for himself, and so the man set off for a head-on charge with a fist aimed straight for the Oozaru's stomach. In seeing a combat ready hand hovering by the Ape's side Vegeta wondered why he didn't simply get swatted out of the sky. It was only when his attack connected did he realise why; he hit nothing but the solid rock that was one of the creature's abdominal muscles – the thing had let him attack on purpose, purely to show him how weak he was in comparison and how fruitless this whole thing was.

Vegeta froze; horrified that the black Great Ape's power was every bit as real as he sensed. Not only was he powerful, but his entire structure was firm enough to be steel splated and his strikes had enough strength in them to knock a small planet out of its orbit. In recoiling from his failed attack Vegeta was suddenly seized. Two meaty fingers the girth of houses gripped him at the waistline and slowly crushed as they maintained their hold. He was so strong that maintaining a hold on such a more fragile being made it difficult for it to properly execute without crushing the saiyan, and it showed through Vegeta's screams of pain.

The Great Ape lifted the spiky haired Prince hundreds of metres up to his head level, whereupon hungry eyes and a sneering snout of discontent met him. The creature roared, spitting out trails of saliva and toxic breath strong enough to kill a small horse before raising Vegeta up into the sky and throwing him down with all its immense might. Thanks to travelling at speeds he never thought possible from the creature's throw, Vegeta had no way to straighten himself out or regain posture as he fell, and before he came to grips with what had happened he was sent careering like a blue meteor into the ground of this queer abyss and formed a crater half a mile deep with the sturdy crown of his reinforced head.

How he survived such an impact without breaking his neck Vegeta had no idea, but what he did know was that when he emerged he was in one of the worst shapes he'd ever been in before, forcing himself to stand with bones that seemed to have snapped and muscles that felt destroyed. His body felt like a lead prison, constricting him and disallowing any big movements - a symptom that usually came with these kinds of beatings. But it wasn't just that; something else hindered his mobility. Apparently it wasn't just from injury that his body had grown heavier.

Casting wavering eyes to the top of his head, the Prince saw that the halo was now around a fifth of the segment of a full donut, which added a new level of difficulty to the challenge; something he'd not picked up on before. With the ever increasing size of the halo the gravity also increased here, meaning that he'd have to finish this quick if he wanted any chance of survival, for if he left it too late he'd be too heavy to even move.

_Yeah, like that's going to happen_. He figured. If one thing hit him it was the hopelessness of it all; it was like someone had purposefully designed a challenge that was completely unconquerable with no weaknesses and thrown him into it even in his mental condition. He had not the will left to fight anything anymore, let alone an ape that only seemed to be bigger and more powerful every time he laid eyes on it. If that wasn't bad enough a new obstacle suddenly presented itself.

Voices from all sides surrounded him and echoed around the dead space, again reminding him of the Room's void, though this time rather than being a cluttered array of overlapping voices each one seemed direct to the saiyan alone, coupled with the transparent ghosts of the speakers appearing all of a sudden when it was their turn to talk. They didn't even have to be true memories, as often the harsh words came from those he cared most about.

"You're pathetic!" spat an image Bulma, sporting a look of genuine anger he rarely glimpsed. "Call yourself a saiyan!"

If he'd stopped to think, Vegeta would've seen the trickery, as Bulma had only ever humanised him over the years and so words like that made no sense coming from her, but in his state of agony the words really hit home for the Prince. He told himself that she was right; that he'd failed his entire family and friends in his weakness and become a disgrace to his own species. Never mind their leader, he was unfit to be their serving boy.

Trunks was next to appear. "Go ahead! Stay there and die! I hope you feel happy now that you let the same fate come to me!"

Now an overwhelming state of frustration came over Vegeta. Being reminded of his failure only served to make things worse; he wanted to scream and tell the boy to shut up, but even looking him in the eye proved far too difficult, and so he took out his fury by soaring up to meet the Great Ape once again, charging ki into a focussed attack.

"_Final Flash!"_

Even if he'd have been up to full strength he doubted the attack would've done much damage, however the actual result still shocked him. A huge blast of golden light erupted from his palms capable of destroying entire planets and vanquishing many of their old foes, but this one simply met a spot on the Ape's left wrist and had completely zero effect. The thing hadn't even been burned and the fur surrounding its arm somehow failed to even singe – a phenomena that baffled him as that same arm slammed forwards, forming a fist as it met his fragile body to send him back to the ground.

Pushing himself back up this time was like bench-pressing ten thousand tonnes in higher gravity, as the halo above had now circled to a full third of its rotation. Every step was a day's hard labour and he doubted he'd even see the thing to over half way before he collapsed under the pressure. Buckets of sweat poured from his rutted brow as he lifted a palm to wipe it. Duodecimus suddenly materialised to his left, sneering whilst speaking in that terrifying voice with that same line he'd previously spoke.

"It's useless!" he mocked. "You can do nothing to stop me so just die already! You're pathetic; a joke; an old man trying desperately to keep up with a career that's far past him. Why did you even come here old man? You've thrown yourself into the ring with a superior opponent and all it's done is get you and your son killed!"

It was this comment that made Vegeta scratch his head; he somehow remembered this comment but not what had come directly after it. He'd presumed up until now that he'd simply passed out from the strain but now he felt something else, like a foreboding sense of knowing that told him he'd missed something. The words still wounded him further though. As he threw himself into a roll away from another of the Great Ape's stomps his mind circled back into despair.

_He's right. I'm just an old man now. What was I thinking in going in there by myself? _

Surviving became a trying game of luck as Vegeta flung himself out of the crossfire of manor sized fists slamming towards his body. Every time he managed to escape one throw another would come his way, relentlessly barraging in a display of speed that seemed far too advanced for a beast of such size. The creature's left fist came upon him again, and in dodging out of the way a single knuckle smashed him hard on the right shoulder, dislocating it with a sickening crunch and rendering it useless until he could push it back in.

"Call yourself _my_ rival? What a joke!" said the ghost of Kakarot. Vegeta lifted a hand to swat his pale image out of view, only to find that his right shoulder seared with agony if he merely twitched it. His legs were in the same constant state of pain too, only the difference with them was that he was forced to move them or die under the colossal shadow of the giant's fist. For a few moments he considered just letting it happen; he'd die soon anyway; this battle only ever got tougher as time went by and so with each passing moment the ordeal got more and more hopeless.

"Wow – thinking of ending it without a fight huh?" Kakarot taunted. "You're even more useless than I thought you were! And we never even got to finish our fight!"

The words of his all-time rival suddenly made something snap in Vegeta's mind. He saw all too clearly now that he'd gone into his fight with Duodecimus in the completely wrong frame of mind. He figured that if he just gave it his all that was enough, and if it ended in his demise then so be it, but this was a far cry from the kind of demeanour he usually exhibited. Vegeta's code had always been to win; to emerge victorious no matter the cost, and Kakarot's speech reminded him of that all too well of that whilst driving the nail right in of the fact that there was nothing he could do to fix it.

But something else played on his conscience too; he was missing something in plain sight. After jumping away from another grizzled strike with a body made of rocks he realised. He'd never said _aloud_ that he considered waiting for the Great Ape to finish him, so how had Kakarot taunted him for it? The simple fact hit him like a brick to the head; this was all in his mind, it _had _to be. It explained the random appearances of people he knew and the dream-like setting, but most of all it explained one thing that had seemed like such an odd occurrence until now.

The halo had now reached two thirds of its full circle; forcing Vegeta to his knees after every small evade and making lifting his good arm the ordeal of a lifetime. The ape however, was unaffected. He realised that it wasn't the gravity around him getting more and more intense, as with its considerable size the Great Ape should've been crippled by now. As the halo lengthened it was his _own_ body getting heavier as he passed over into the next life. One thing still alluded him though.

Why? If this was all in his mind then why would it do such a thing to him? If he was dead what was the need throw this ridiculous test at him? Taunts of friends and family members surrounding him, repeating the same lines of 'disgrace' and 'pathetic' and 'old man' to dishearten him further, but why would his own mind go to such an effort upon his death? With that in mind, Vegeta simply told himself it was all his head and started again. Part of his determination had been rekindled in this sudden realisation, and so pushing himself off numbing legs he launched up towards the black Great Ape with a punch utilising all of his remaining strength.

Naturally the attack was of even less use than his last two. He retreated to the floor before the Great Ape had the chance to counter, but not even acknowledging that it was in his head worked; it was like some kind of bad dream he was unable to wake from. And now he'd exhausted all of his ki – his body was barely holding itself together, and so he was at the beast's mercy when its pummelling fist came his way.

Vegeta roared with a cry of effort as his physical body was ravaged by the mere twitching of his legs. Nevertheless, somehow, using what fragments of energy he had left, the Prince managed to throw himself out of the way, landing even heavier eagle-spread across the floor and simply waiting for the last blow to finish him off. To his left the Ape's fist smashed into the ground where he'd been a second ago as his head began to swim once again and he felt the cold embrace of death wash over his body. The shadow of the beast's right foot loomed over him, preparing to crush him into dust, but Vegeta's eyes were cast forwards towards the final spirit that had manifested before him – the one that he'd dreaded seeing all these years.

It was himself; old and decrepit and useless for all intents and purposes. Perhaps it was four years down the line or perhaps forty, but the image remained the same and hit him even more powerfully now than he thought it ever would. His hair had receded down into small, greying wisps and his face was wrinkled with ancient frown lines. He carried a cane which wavered with the trembling of his impaired hands, which would be damaged from all the years of punching.

It was a sorry state indeed; one which infuriated Vegeta and made him wish to destroy it if it was the last thing he ever did. And so with clawing, scrabbling hands, the Prince once again began to drag himself along the floor towards the image. Even when moving at a snail's pace, the ghost seemed to get further away with every inch of his destroyed body's shuffling. He saw now that the halo was almost complete; a mere inch was left until it completed its rotation and so his body was effectively paralysed. But still he pressed on, and in doing so he experienced a wave of déjà vu.

This had happened before. Like water pouring into a cup the memories of him crawling towards Duodecimus flooded back into his mind and another image replaced the old man. It was himself, somehow powering up in his desperation as Duodecimus gripped Trunks by the neck. It was a cruel display, showing him that despite him giving up, Trunks might still have been alive; the taunting 'this is what you could have won!' of a cheesy TV gameshow host. With the foot of the Ape king closing in the voice of his private thoughts back then echoed around the void.

_No! This can't be it! I can't let Trunks and the others suffer for my mistakes! I have to get Trunks out of there no matter the cost. If just for one moment, let this NOT be the limits of MY STRENGTH!_

He realised it then all too clearly; that this wasn't just some meaningless challenge for him to pass the time. The taunting of Trunks, Bulma and Kakarot and showing him his greatest fears; they'd all been tests. He'd have to overcome these obstacles – he'd have to throw aside all his doubts if he wanted to continue, and now that he'd failed it was showing him the scene where his physical body now lay in the company of Duodecimus, rubbing it in that he'd lost now that he could do nothing about it.

Well he wasn't ready to give up just yet.

If this experience had taught him anything it was that he'd failed himself in his reaction to these doubts; that he had to regain the determination and the pride he once wielded so expertly, and it would start with not giving up to some stupid test like this.

No matter the cost.

No matter the foe.

No matter how heavy his body became.

He had to get Trunks out of there and aid his companions no_ matter what_. He wasn't done yet; he'd never be ready to just roll over and die like some sick showdog that had past its prime.

He had to fight.

The Great Ape's foot connected, slamming down with twice the force of Kakarot's Spirit Bomb upon the saiyan Prince. For a moment it seemed as though the creature was satisfied in grinding Vegeta into flat pulp, but it wasn't over just yet; the beast's foot never actually touched the cold floor of this eerie world. It pushed down harder until eventually it was balancing all its weight on the tiny insect, though no matter how hard it pushed it simply could not crush the small weight. After half a minute of exerting itself the creature removed its foot from the standing form of its prey below to reveal Vegeta, standing confidently in the first form of the Super Saiyan warrior. A few deathly moments passed as Vegeta silently looked up at his opponent, breathing heavily in his effort to sustain the first form.

"_Sorry!_" he bellowed suddenly. "_But I can't afford to waste any more time here!_"

With that the Prince set off upwards, apparently ignoring the tiny slither of a gap in the halo he had left and the immense gravity that came with it. The Great Ape aimed its other leg into a flailing knee as the man soared past its thigh, only to have the giant muscle batted away with a burst of ki as Vegeta ascended into the Super Saiyan 2.

Higher he climbed, passing the Ape's midriff and still accelerating with unparalleled speed. Again the black creature made for an attack, swiping with a meaty paw at the quickly ascending bullet only to find that Vegeta smoothly barrel-rolled out of the way, never slowing down in his climb and presenting himself as a Super Saiyan 3 when his face came back into view. Faster and faster he zipped, knowing that at any second he could pass over into the afterlife. Once again he relished the challenge rather than fearing it and turned the obstacle into a weapon as he soared up past the creature's chest.

The Great Ape swung its final unused limb, attacking with the great force of its muscled arm in an attempt to pummel the Prince back down to the ground. For just a second it seemed as though he'd actually connected, but no, Vegeta had disappeared into thin air before reappearing in a flash standing atop the swinging fist and launching up again as a Super Saiyan 4.

He let out a fierce cry as he rose up past the beast's shoulders; now the Great Ape was completely open for an assault, though Vegeta still needed the strength to defeat it, and so carried on breaking the limits of his power as he made past the Ape's chin, morphing into a whole new form and seizing its power for himself. He came upon the black creature's forehead and smiled as its untamed eyes now looked up in fear at the man, and presenting up an extraordinary fist he followed through on his threat, connecting perfectly and knocking the monster to the ground with one punch as his vision turned white once again.

* * *

Over the unstable quake of the entire spire Vegeta's massive boost could suddenly be heard once again, accompanied now by an even more ferocious battle cry and a shocking display of the brightest white light emanating from him. His power had begun to rise dramatically even under the strain of the Gravity Manipulation technique and had disappeared for a moment, as if elsewhere, before returning now with double the potency. A restricting fear clutched the Vicis by the throat; he dropped Trunks and disengaged the tricky ability in exchange for watching in the utmost horror as a swelling smokescreen clouded his view, marking the pinnacle of Vegeta's stunning recovery.

The tremor of the structure had ceased at last, but the damage had already been done; parts of the roof crumbled away with each passing moment and the western wall had been destroyed completely to display the wasteland beyond. However the charming view was the last thing Duodecimus's eyes magnetised to. Instead he was focussed on the silhouetted figure of a man striding confidently out of the smoking ruin.

The first thing he saw from the darkened outline were the eyes; bright, mystical spheres of the most vivid aquamarine shone through the dust and peered into the Vices' very soul. He turned his head in an attempt to avoid the focussed glare and instead averted his eyes to the rest of the man's intimidating features as he made into the open.

His boots had morphed from a pale lavender to a pearly white in colour to suit the rest of his form and sported a new design to go with them. His leggings had also changed colour, somehow morphing from the darkest black to a shade of midnight blue, and as the smoke cleared away from his torso Duodecimus saw why. Rather than harbouring his regular blue jumpsuit, his body seemed to have changed into a suitable replacement. The fur covering his upper body was now the same trademark blue as he usually wore, complete with a simple pattern of twin white stripes - one rushing down each shoulder to match his gloves and boots. From his calm and regular walking it was also clear to see that somehow the man had been somehow healed to full strength after being on the cusp of death.

Whilst his body had become far more muscular his face on the other hand had become much leaner and angular to suit and intimidating frown, emphasising his signature coloured eyes of the Super Saiyan 4 that instead now glowed with energy. The saiyan's hair had changed too, elevating to a more heightened design to resemble his original form a little more whilst thinning out into spikes that looked sharp enough to shatter glass.

"But how!" cried Duodecimus hysterically. "What is that form! The Super Saiyan 4 is the pinnacle of what a Saiyan can achieve! You were at your limit!"

Vegeta growled still; he concentrated his ki and attempted to contain it within the bursting aura of fire and lightning that now surrounded him. After levelling out his power he eventually responded with a focussed roar of determination.

"Not today Duodecimus! _This old man still has plenty more fight left in him!_"

With that Vegeta leapt forwards, utilising the blazingly fast reflexes and even greater speed he'd been gifted with in a high speed dash towards the Vicis captain. It wasn't just speed either. Planting his feet firmly; the saiyan heaved his entire body into a following punch that sent Duodecimus hurtling into the far wall. "_It's time to end this!_" he spat, wasting no time into making for the Vices' landing point. "I'll make you regret crossing me Duodecimus! You'll pay for laying even a finger on the heir to the saiyan race!"

But to Vegeta's shock Duodecimus was already back on his feet by the time he'd reached him. It mattered little to his strategy of simply pummelling the man into dust with the power of the Super Saiyan 5, but what troubled him greatly was the fact that Duodecimus now had a cold sneer spread across his face, and it took him only a moment to see why.

The clock face upon the Vices' chest had once again begun to spin; this was a first for their species, as never before had any Vicis exhibited two transformations. Physically he changed very little, but his aura flared out to keep Vegeta at bay until he was finished, emerging with a much higher power level that seemed to even the playing field between the two.

"Well well well," mocked Vegeta, genuinely sounding impressed now that he'd taken everything in and contained his rage momentarily. "We've come this far and you still have a trick up your sleeve; that's dirty, but at least this'll be a good warm-up."

Duodecimus smirked. "Of course; I am the captain of the Vices and commander of the entire horde of Vynuls. Only I have ever even _seen _our Master. Did you honestly think you could put _me_ in the same boat as those pathetic morons you called warriors?"

Vegeta only snarled at this comment with eyes now glowing ablaze in response to his anger; while he couldn't deny that the man was right and he cared nothing for any of the other Vices they'd defeated, speaking ill of one's comrades was something that angered him greatly. After all the years of looking down on Kakarot and earlier discarding Raditz as being merely a disposable tool were among the things he regretted the most, especially after seeing that the two of them had abilities that matched and even superseded his own.

Through the cyan tint of his glazed-over vision he could see that Duodecimus had grown much larger and more powerful in this recent transformation, but the Super Saiyan 5's power was equally as awesome. He hadn't come all this way just to die here now; he _had _to win here without fail.

Duodecimus attacked suddenly, launching forwards with a hundred concurrent fists aimed at different spots to the saiyan's body that kept Vegeta on his toes to dodge every one.

_He's faster. _He noted, shifting his weight and ducking his head in a blur that even he could barely follow. _But it's nothing I can't handle._

After a few moments of the frenzied evading the prince eventually saw his chance and jerked up his wrist to catch a thrown right hand that he held firmly, tensing the enormous bicep of his left arm even more. Now his eyes darted after the one remaining fist so that upon the next strike he caught that too, and so with both extremities firmly under his grip his began to squeeze tighter and twist around with an upsurge of ki so great that the floor directly beneath him completely evaporated.

The submission drove Duodecimus to his knees as blood poured effortlessly from breaking knuckles, though he had one more trick up his sleeve. He didn't need his hands to use energy blasts; in a bid to escape Vegeta's clutches the Vicis captain suddenly charged ki into his chest and expelled it in a volatile golden beam as a built-in lighthouse to strike the Prince and send him hurtling through the hole in the far wall and into the open.

He felt the chill of the ghastly wasteland pour over him like someone stepping over his grave, skidding out past the ki roasted furnace of the hall and finally steadying himself a few metres in the sky on a parallel level. From here he could see that they were almost at the top of the spire, above which loomed some kind of presence that he could not quite make out, but nevertheless got a sense of the greatest power.

He was cut off suddenly; Duodecimus had followed through on his last attack and rushed out into the wind to meet Vegeta head-on with a savage punch to the jaw that perfectly connected in his dizzied and distracted state. As the foe pursued for a second time Vegeta finally regained focus and re-engaged the man, forcing him into another fast paced brawl around the sky before finally landing a decent hammering fist to the ribs.

As the clock face upon the Vices' chest began to glow once again Vegeta swerved away to a further range; he was far too experienced to be hit by the same trick twice. It mattered little though, as now the saiyan was in a far better position to attack and aimed his steadily glowing palm to a blind spot as that golden chest attack sailed harmlessly away.

"_Big Bang Attack!"_

"_Gravity Manipulation!"_

Vegeta froze; evidently his ki was also affected by the dense blanket of gravity that somehow encircled the Vicis, as his sphere of destructive, white-hot energy simmered down to the size of a tennis ball before bursting harmlessly by the man's side. He knew now that this would be tougher than he first thought; even there from twenty metres away he could still feel the pressure of the technique. If he went in for close combat the move would put him at a huge disadvantage, especially if Duodecimus decided to up it to the same level as before, but then again his ki attacks were also hindered by the barrier, giving the Vicis the ultimate defence from all angles that could protect him even whilst he attacked.

So Vegeta worked experimentally. He began a series of aerial tactics; swooping in with a single fist or kick before retreating into safer territories where the gravity was more regular. Only about a third of his attacks got through, as he moved so quickly that it took a while for Duodecimus to read his movements before putting the shields up, and every time he tried to follow up with a consecutive attack the Vicis would use that tricky chest beam or utilise the Gravity Manipulation to a high level to scare him off.

All the while during his testing the Prince still had to duck away from every incoming ki blast that Duodecimus chucked and flee to a safer range whenever he charged into close range with the gravity in his favour. The two spiralled around the building to meet different levels of the towering spire in a frantic dance of what seemed like an almost choreographed display of a fight for their very lives. One wrong move or ill-timed dodge could easily lose either the match under these circumstances, as the sheer power of their moves could wipe out entire planets in a simple stray blast. Both believed, and indeed appeared to be wearing the other down and coming to grips with the other's technique, making the battle even more intense as they raged on.

But Vegeta couldn't lose; he _wouldn't _lose. After coming so far and laying everything on the line his determination was at its fullest and his focus and reflexes had never been sharper; in fact it was because of this that he noticed a key pattern in his opponent's moves. Due of the huge amount of energy required to raise the gravity of an entire area, Duodecimus only upped the density of his surroundings when under immediate threat, meaning that if Vegeta moved fast enough he'd be unable to put them up in time for an initial defence or even better - if Vegeta exploited a blind spot.

Fighters like this rarely had any glaring flaws in their senses and vision; both Duodecimus and Vegeta had the entire area under full supervision, but even the strongest warriors were susceptible to tricks. The saiyan rolled away from two streaking fireworks of explosive ki to steady himself to a better range before raising his right hand again in a signature pose.

"_Big Bang Attack!"_

"Come now, this again Vegeta? I thought you'd have learned by now that this level of attack can't harm me! _Gravity Manipulation!"_

Vegeta only smirked; just as expected Duodecimus had put up the ultimate defence in an attempt to simmer and deflate his oncoming attack as it came within range. Though using his extraordinary strength, Vegeta kept a mental grip of the sizzling ball of ki and could feel with his senses the moment the sphere was affected by the technique's density. And so instead of letting his attack fizzle harmlessly into dust he clenched his outstretched palm into a tight fist, detonating the attack prematurely before disappearing in a burst of unparalleled speeds.

Unlike physical matter or any substance of ki, the overhanging vapour given off by the Big Bang Attack's early explosion was relatively unaffected by the Gravity Manipulation, and so the thick cloud of smoke suddenly blew over and engulfed the Vicis, showing that Vegeta had also taken the wind's trajectory into account. Shrouded in the haze, Duodecimus instinctively threw up his highest gravity barrier and begun to panic, noting that Vegeta's ki signal had disappeared from around him. He was masking it perfectly and Duodecimus had half a mind to fly up and out of the smoke, however he knew that he could simply be heading straight into a trap, and so opted to wait and sit out the smoke cloud whilst his defences were impenetrable.

After a half minute the mass of smoke subsided, leaving the Vicis staring at the spot where he'd last seen Vegeta fire off his Big Bang Attack. Frantically he checked his sides before looking over his shoulder, and it was only when he looked down did he finally drop the technique; so confident that the man was nowhere within range.

Faster than the speed of sound Vegeta swooped down from a spot fifteen metres above to come face to face with the Vicis within a second, darting right through the openings in his fighting stance and more importantly, getting within the closest possible range before he had a chance to reinitiate that pesky gravity technique. Duodecimus froze with terror; as if in slow motion he glimpsed Vegeta's palms; ablaze with a vivid green ki of a huge destructive force that he'd no doubt been charging ever since he let off his Big Bang Attack. Without sparing a moment he pushed them forwards, touching the Vices' chest with those pearly white gloves and bringing the attack to its maximum intensity.

"_Final Shine!"_

Like a malfunctioning rollercoaster Duodecimus lurched backwards upon the emerald explosion with a ferocious whiplash that almost broke his neck on the spot. After an eruption like ten volcanoes engulfing him the chief Vicis was sent hurtling at breakneck speeds back towards the tower, flying through the same hole they'd come from, as evidently Vegeta had planned out this whole attack a few moves in advance. Bloodied head to toe and broken in no less than three places, Duodecimus rolled his throbbing head over to see that he'd been kicked across the flooring of their original battle hall almost all the way to the other side with his head acting as a spade to rake up half the surface of the polished surface.

He dragged himself to his feet, and thanks to one eye being swollen shut he winked the hazy left open to see Vegeta approaching fast through the air to finish him off.

"_Gravity Manipulation!"_ He roared suddenly.

Vegeta never slowed, but still a wave of apprehension came over him as he closed in through the gaping hall he'd blown through the wall. He'd expected Duodecimus to be down for much longer to grant him time for a final attack without that gravity barrier, though even after taking his final shine at point blank range he'd still gotten up almost immediately. For the briefest of moments the saiyan considered backing off and simply trying again, but only for a moment. He'd come too far now and he doubted he'd get this same opportunity a second time; now was the moment to strike; to pull a risky stunt that would finish the match one way or another, and so the Prince burst into even higher speeds as he felt the weighting effects taking place upon his body.

Higher and higher Duodecimus pushed his godlike technique, causing Vegeta to slow down under the immense density of eight hundred plus gravity that still rose with every second. The closer he got the heavier he became, but with a final war cry straining his maxed out body he pushed deeper into the hall and closer to his mark, all the while charging ki into both hands flailing behind him in a method he'd never realised possible before now.

Fists ablaze with a frightening white energy and eyes shining with a vivid aquamarine, Vegeta closed in. He roared even louder as he came within five metres of the Vicis captain where the gravity was over a thousand times that of Earth's natural concentration. He saw the look on Duodecimus's face warp into one of sheer terror with the gap fast narrowing between them, and had he not been under such enormous pressure where a lapse in focus could make his body fall apart, he'd have laughed in seeing how terrified of him his opponents were once again.

Finally Vegeta brought his right fist up, coming within range in a final scream of effort and ending with the cry of a new technique.

"_ROYAL ASSAULT!_"

With that Vegeta's right fist slammed home to instantly break Duodecimus's jaw and dislodge it far out of place. Rather of expelling his energy in the form of a blast he'd instead augmented his fists with it to make his punches several times more powerful. But it wasn't just the first punch that Duodecimus had to worry about; Vegeta met his already limp body with another powerful left fist to the ribs before unloading a wave of at least ten punches infused with a deadly white ki. The Vicis captain stumbled before at last his Gravity Manipulation technique that had been depleting with every blow vanished completely, giving Vegeta his cue to slam a sickening punch that drove right up into the man's chest.

Eyes bulging, chest tightening and lungs flattened into paper, Duodecimus finally lost his footing, and after attempting to steady himself simply began to fall back from his heels. But the saiyan wasn't finished just yet; the moment he saw the Vicis falling the man launched up from his still crouched position with a frothing white uppercut that sent the man straight up into air where he was pursued for a final attack. Vegeta's eyes glowed brighter than ever as he summoned up a vast amount of his remaining strength and transferred it into his enhanced, joined fists for a final downwards volleyball strike aimed atop the man's chest.

As Duodecimus was sent careering not just through one floor, but the entire structure of the tower, Vegeta knew that the match was over, and so finally released his hold on the Super Saiyan 5 form that had drained him of so much strength. It would surely take him some getting used to, though since he'd attained it all through natural means he had no doubt that he'd be able to access it again once he'd recovered his strength.

He'd finally done it; Vegeta had overcome every obstacle of his mind and emerged stronger than ever, defeating the captain of their new enemies in a battle that could've easily cost him his life.

He landed and wiped his brow before looking down the hole Duodecimus had created. He got a sense of vertigo upon noticing that he could see right from his current position near the top of the spire to all the way down to the base level where the Vicis had splattered to the ground in a pool of his own blood. _Yeah_. He thought to himself, clenching his fists with a private, triumphant smirk. _I've still got it._

Whether or not Duodecimus was dead was questionable; at any rate if he didn't get seen to immediately he'd die for sure, and even if he did survive his days of fighting or even walking would be long over.

With that the saiyan set off towards the eagle-spread form of his unconscious and no doubt crippled son. A senzu bean would probably put him back on his feet, but Vegeta still had no idea whether or not Korin had grown any new ones since their last batch and so winced at the lengthy and painful process his son might have to endure. But at least he was alive and would see another fighting day; that at least put an honest smile on Vegeta's face before a horrifying power level once again rocked the tower. It was a presence unlike anything he'd ever felt before; a maddeningly frightful signal of wrath that put to shame that of any single mortal he'd ever encountered.

After being only feared and whispered of for so long; after pulling the strings from behind the scenes all this time; after all the warnings the Vices had given them and after millions of years of lying dormant in a restricting form, the Master had finally decided to take matters into his own hands. Vegeta swallowed the lump of initial fear and simply reminded himself of the hardships he'd been through earlier, and with the combined strength of he, Kakarot and Raditz, this 'Master' would stand no chance against them. He smiled, standing firm and looking up to the roof; the location of the giant power signal.

"Looks like someone finally decided to come out and play."

* * *

_Man I loved writing this, seriously I think this might've been my favourite chapter thus far. Vegeta resolved his pesky subplot and proved once again that he is the KING of badassery with his Super Saiyan 5. I wanted to get this just right before I put it out there - there's still some stuff I'm not 100% happy with but I thought it was easily above average in terms of my own chapters and I know how much you guys wanted to see this. _

_And finally with our aniversary of a 30th chapter will come the official introduction of the Master. It took a while; I'm not going to lie I thought he'd be around much sooner but there was just so much stuff I wanted to cover before I brought him in that it took ages. Prepare to laugh, cry, scream out attack names and drop your jaw to the ground in shock with the final few chapters of Dragon Ball AF! (Okay maybe I exaggerated that a bit :S)_

_Oh and by the way I usually just do my own thing but there's one element that I could really use some feedback on since I'm in two minds about it right now: I have a couple of names for the guy in mind but honestly I don't know whether I should give our main antagonist a name or just keep calling him 'The Master' since it seems to have grown on me. So it's up to you guys, should I name him or are you content with just 'The Master'?  
_


	30. Chapter 30 The Master's Arrival

Chapter 30: The Master's Arrival 

"Looks like someone finally decided to come out to play."

Vegeta muttered his words bitterly with a cynical look up at the shuddering roof above. Faintly he felt the approach of a multitude of powerful signals, and so turned his head left to the hole he'd blown through the wall to see Kakarot and the others floating through the opening.

"Took your sweet time," He grumbled. "And here I thought you'd ran away."

Goku let out a nervous laugh. "Me? Run away? Never! I just knew you'd be angry if I interfered with your fight."

"So that's your excuse for not backing me up until now? Seems rather convenient Kakarot."

Goku only pouted in dissatisfaction, refusing to rise to Vegeta's bait and still keeping up the banter despite the monstrous ki signal forming above them. The two didn't even seem to notice; they knew this moment would come and so had been steeling themselves to be ready for when the time came. Through the corner of his eye the Prince noted that aside from Trunks, Gohan was the only one who was injured. The man was bloodied up and supported on a shoulder each by Uub and Goten; he was stable enough to speak though.

"Hey Vegeta. . . Where's your opponent then?"

"Down there." The saiyan absently jerked his head towards the hole where he'd punched Duodecimus through the entire spire.

"So you won then?" perked up Goten

"That'd be the long and short of it."

"So wait where's. . ." The hybrid's eyes darted across the room until they finally fell upon the unconscious form of his closest friend. "Oh God what happened to Trunks!" he cried suddenly.

"He fell over." Said Vegeta sarcastically. Goten's dazed stare only got more and more confused until the saiyan's temper was struck. "He was injured you moron! What did you think happened! Someone protect him! The main event's about to start."

With that, Piccolo and Tien tentatively made their way across the room to stand either side of Trunks to leave Goku, Vegeta and Raditz standing equally spaced at the centre of the room, staring intently at the crumbling roof above them. Goku's eyes nervously fell to Vegeta as he pestered him in a childlike fashion.

"Sooo. . ." he began, speaking low enough so that only the two of them could hear. "Did you-"

"Yes." snapped Vegeta, showing a look of irritancy in response to admitting that his counterpart had been right all along. "I don't know if I have enough strength to activate it again though."

"Yeah – but at least you got there in the end . That's all that matters, right?" Goku checked.

"Indeed. . ."

Goku sighed in relief that his friend's anger seemed to have been stilled.

"However." Vegeta continued, instantly noting that upon his one word Kakarot's look warped back to one of comic fear. "It was another form of the Super Saiyan that you acquired. . . Again. . . And you kept it hidden from me. . . Again." The Prince's speech was topped off with a focussed glare towards his rival and a throbbing vein of anger forming near his temple. Goku flapped his hands in an awkwardly silly manner in an attempt to reason with him. For a while it looked as though Vegeta was about to launch at him with another flying punch for his difficult ways, but he contained his aggression eventually, staring back up at the collapsing roof and muttering. "I'll deal with you later."

As Goku was left worrying about whether or not Vegeta's threats were serious an almighty crash sounded from above. The roofs of the levels three floors above gave way into a rockslide careering down upon the nine fighters. The three pure blooded saiyans aimed ki blazing palms to the roof and blasted away the rocks into dust, though it soon became apparent that they didn't have to, as the hefty deposits of stone were also being demolished from above by the very aura of a substance in the sky. It wasn't long before the entire structure from their point upwards had almost completely collapsed under the pressure to showcase some kind of strange entity.

The purple void of what appeared to be a bottomless black hole was spread out over the sky and distorted into a face with a look of the most livid anger. Flecks of a rage induced red stained the finer points of the black and violet surface as the wind seemed to roar with his fury. This _thing_ must've been the Master.

Under the intensity of the energy's furious howl the fighters with the most wild hairstyles felt the galeforce between their individual strands kick up and sway their hair into an upright position as their garments blew as if beside a billowing tornado.

"Well he certainly knows how to make an entrance." Figured Raditz, looking especially out of place with all five feet of his hair fanning upwards and out. "How the hell are we even supposed to punch that thing?"

As if upon his command the glowering expression of infinite void-space began to distort in a fashion mimicking that of the Vices' clock face tattoos. Rather than simply twisting though, the black hole seemed to compress itself whilst writhing around chaotically. Very soon it had shrunk to a relatively normal size and glowed with a malevolent purple energy before crashing as a cinet down to the hall below and opposing the nine fighters as his transformation was completed.

The Master looked like something from a tortured nightmare; his odd frame, comprised of a slimmer waist and forearms with and angular head when compared with his massively pumped up chest and fists, screamed some kind of deformity. But there was no mistake here; this was his physical form - a look that was very different from the human figure; the way he truly looked and something that not even his precious Vices had seen. The man appeared as a six-foot-something biped with skin coloured in such a dark violet it was borderline black. Two oversized fists were comprised of only three fingers and one thumb, each sharpened into claws and complete with a blood-red finish. They presumed the same went for his feet, but since they were concealed with enormously jagged steel boots it was made impossible to tell. His legs were covered with simple black trousers tattered and shredded into rags over the decay of time whilst his curiously long forearms were protected by alloy gauntlets.

He wore no garments to cover his chest if only to frighten onlookers off by his very size. Instead, two frighteningly spiked guards of massive size covered his shoulders and acted as a mantle for a black cloak that swayed down to his feet. Quite possibly the most frightening features of all though, lay within his face. From the base of the nose upwards he was protected by some kind of thin, organic helmet that covered his face and sharpened out into a point whilst showing only eye holes at either side that displayed narrowed; almost reptilian pupils of a more potent purple.

"Well this makes things simpler." Raditz grumbled.

The Master paused and took a moment to deeply inhale whilst surveying his hands and stretching his aching bones as if in marvel of his own form. Cruel eyes peered out to the three opposing saiyans as he licked his lips with a forked tongue. "You. . ." he began, speaking in a deep, raspy whisper and addressing the man at the centre directly. "You are Goku. . ."

"That's right." Goku said with a nod.

A few seconds passed before a widening smile of cruel sadism spread across The Master's lips, and following that he began to laugh; his voice sounded like the vocal chords of a snake grated raw with sandpaper. "Good." He hissed. "Part of me is glad I got to face you for myself, for I hear you are the strongest fighter in the universe."

Goku said nothing, only fixed his stance a little more firmly to still his nerves.

"Then again. . ." he added. "The other part of me. . ." The Master's gaze suddenly fell over the manhole in the floor as he lifted both arms aglow with a fantastical energy.

Upon what seemed to be an attack the fighters prepared themselves, but after the initial lurch of their stomachs each quickly realised that this creature wasn't attacking, as the crash of an object hurtling through levels sounded beneath them whilst a faint hum emitted from Duodecimus's last known place. Within a few seconds the borderline dead twelve o'clock Vices was levitated back up through the well Vegeta had created, and Unidecimus had been ripped through the floor beside him to join his comrade.

The two hovered side by side a metre or so away from the controlling hands of their puppeteer. Unidecimus had awoken with the crash of being dragged through multiple storeys and now quaked with fear upon seeing the beast's true form. The Master continued with his first smile of the purest evil. ". . . Is disappointed."

Goku growled in anger; he'd been in this situation a hundred times before and so could see the man's intentions in a heartbeat. The Master's smile widened as his clawed hands began to curl into fists.

"_NO! Don't!_" wailed Goku.

"Die." His hands tightened and squeezed, causing the two before him to suddenly erupt with a gory shower of their bones and crushed insides. Despite being more than fifteen metres across the hall from them, the velocity at which the Vices burst still splattered flecks of their crimson remains onto the uniforms of the Z-fighters and left a disordered pattern of streaks across The Masters face and body. He licked around his lips to taste the substance as he stared out the opposing men looking horrified at his actions.

"They were no threat to you! Why would you do that!" interrogated the orange clad saiyan with a look of frustration, stepping forwards as a sign of challenge.

The Master took a long pause before answering the man's valid query. "They failed in their mission. Quintus and Seni were supposed to be enough to take down your kind, but not only did they fail - even my most gifted creations could not do what I requested of them. . . Why should I allow them to live?"

"They worked for you their entire lives! You don't have the right to just throw them away like that!"

The Master let out a chuckle that seemed genuinely amused by Goku's valour. "I thought I knew the extent of your compassion, but you would even fight to protect your enemies? . . Why waste your time on such weaklings?"

"_Everyone _deserves a right to live!" Goku insisted.

"Nonsense. Only the strong should be fit to live in this world. It is for that reason that I've waited for this day for years. . . Are you going to fight or not?"

"Oh if you want a fight you'll get one!"

"Kakarot, no!" called Vegeta.

But it was too late; Goku had already set off and rushed the abomination standing before him with the full power of his Super Saiyan 5 form. The Master took off in smoothly dodging the first punch only to be recklessly pursued by the angered saiyan of the Earth. Vegeta had tried to warn him about diving in without thinking, but Goku had always been touchy when it came to senselessly killing people; despite their clearly visible malevolence his somewhat naive optimism prevented him from seeing them as irredeemable.

Goku accelerated into a wild flurry of punches and kicks, each one evaded sharply by the calm figure of enormous power, who never made any move to strike back and only observed his movements. It was because of this that in his blind aggression Goku believed himself to have the upper hand, as the pressure he put on his opponent helped him chase the man further up into sky with every swift punch that was deftly avoided.

"Raditz!" barked Vegeta, turning to the long haired saiyan.

The acknowledgement of his presence was all it took for Raditz to completely understand what his Prince was about to propose and so he pre-emptively nodded with a look of excitement in his eyes. He powered up to the rank of a Super Saiyan 4, and beside him Vegeta did the same, only with what appeared to be much greater difficulty thanks to his battle with Duodecimus. After fully completing their transformation the two took off and managed to intercept the blazingly fast battle just when it looked as though The Master was finally about to counter.

The four fighters collided and bounced back into respective positions twenty metres apart from each other in an odd square formation high up in the sky.

"It's me he wants, guys! Let me handle him!" Goku reasoned; apparently his anger still hadn't worn off.

"Goku don't be a fool!" cried Raditz. "You can sense his power can't you? There's no way you can take him without our help!"

Another low chuckle rumbled from the croaky voice of The Master, making the fighters become immediately more wary of him.

"It doesn't matter whether there are three or three thousand of you at that level. . ." He mocked. "Is that truly the best you can do Goku? I feel ashamed that my fighters lost to yours if you are considered the most powerful among them."

Goku only shook his head and charged The Master again. The two rebounded with a force like a thunderclap before each letting fly a brightly coloured beam, creating a huge explosion in the sky before battling it out again. The Master then seemed to go on the offensive as all hell broke loose; within two strikes he'd bloodied Goku's face. Vegeta and Raditz managed to quickly intercept before anything serious was done, but it was clear that at this level of strength there was little either could do to tip the tide of the battle. They could see that in a heartbeat, and yet Goku's moves, whilst still being swifter and several times more powerful than their own, were often mistimed and easily countered despite him calming down a little since the murder of Duodecimus and Unidecimus.

Calming down a _little_ wouldn't be enough though; if he was to stand a chance in this fight he'd have to remain as level headed and clear minded as possible. Fighting from sheer rage was a technique only naturally the aggressive fighters such as Vegeta or Piccolo could gain strength from, and so Goku was weakened significantly even when utilising the Super Saiyan 5.

Just when it seemed the battle had become a little more even the saiyan took a bolt of green ki to leave a circular burn amidst his fur of a darkened orange. It was in a mere wince of his recoil that the Master exploited an opening, lunging forwards again and landing a powerful overhand right to send Goku back down to the spire's peak with a crash into a rare part of untouched flooring.

For a few moments he lay there face down in his cracked crater, savouring the pain until he got up, wearing a look of determination that appeared dazed and confused whilst his legs slightly quaked from the impact.

"Goku! You alright!" called Uub. The young man was clearly troubled in seeing his all powerful teacher being beaten like this, and so was reassured when Goku turned a half shut eye to him and gave a dizzy thumbs up.

"Yeah I'm alright." He said. Suddenly the man gave a yelp upon turning his attention back to his foe; for a split second he came into face to face with a beam of the most magnificent violet before acting upon instinct and launching himself away at the last opportunity, sailing away from the pursuing explosion into the sky whilst checking to ensure that his friends had escaped the blast.

The thick smoke of the attack clouded his vision though, and so he took a moment to strain his eyes in an attempt to peer through the fog. It took him only a few seconds to see that the group had fled into the skies, but in this kind of fight it was two seconds too long - two seconds that would cost him dearly.

"_KAKAROT!" _came the hoarse cry of the Prince.

Goku turned back to his opponent to once again see another beam of energy fast racing towards him, this one closer and even more packed with explosive ki than the last. A pitch of fear reeled through his stomach, as he knew for that final moment that he'd be in serious trouble if he took this one head on, and it was too close now for him to effectively react. As the beam bridged the tiny gap between them the saiyan saw everything in almost slow motion due to the heightened adrenaline of his very life being threatened.

He felt a shove from his right side that suddenly elevated into a powerful shoulder tackle: Vegeta had intervened, barging him out of the way to try and throw both Kakarot and himself out of the beam's path in time. He tried, but didn't quite succeed. Goku turned in shock after the blast had sailed by him unharmed. His face quickly warped into one of horror into seeing what had actually happened. In an attempt to get him out the way the blast had slammed into Vegeta's right arm with its fullest fury, and to the disbelief of the spectators had taken part of the saiyan with it. His hand and more than half of his forearm had vanished, leaving only a leaking, bloody stump where it should have been.

It seemed as though even Vegeta was shocked by the disaster, as he simply looked down at the disfigurement before the pain kicked in and he unleashed a ferocious scream the likes of which none had ever heard come from him.

"_Vegeta!_" cried Goku. As his heart pounded in his chest he realised that like him, the others had frozen in fear; the kind of blast that could damage that badly a fighter of Vegeta's calibre was surely one to be terrified of. He snapped back to his original senses and became dulled of any anger he harboured; it was replaced with only a bottomless pit of guilt and despair upon seeing a man so powerful under so much pain. From the corner of his eye he glimpsed something else just in time as well. The Master prepared to launch another attack with a twisted smirk that showed his satisfaction with the previous results.

Goku grabbed his friend and instantly transmitted over to Raditz before teleporting the three of them back down to ground level.

"We have to get out of here!" exclaimed a mortified Goten.

"I know!" he replied. "Quick! Everyone grab on!"

Without a second thought the remaining Z-Fighters each took a hold of Goku's warm and bloodied fur and the moment he felt every one of his friends' energies the saiyan warped away just in time to avoid a raw blast of ki that would've no doubt finished most of them off.

* * *

"_Dende! DENDE!_"

Already it was pitch black, as the group had been fighting so long in the other dimension that by now it was the middle of the night atop the Lookout. The namekian guardian lay peacefully sleeping until the frenzied wails of everyone's favourite martial artist filled the sky. He lurched up without thinking twice and met the faithful Mr. Popo in the hallway before rushing out to meet their distraught sounding guests.

A fierce, throaty growl of pain that was rumbled through gritted teeth fought back another cry of pain from Vegeta. "Let go of me Kakarot!" he managed at last. "I'll be fine! It's not as bad as it looks!"

"But your arm! You're in trouble!"

"Nonsense! This kind of a wound is _nothing _to a warrior like myself!" Vegeta insisted, though the shaking of his left arm and the beads of sweat pouring from his head said otherwise.

"Dende! Quick!" Goku noticed the guardian run out onto the surface of the Lookout and addressed him instantly.

"What happened?" questioned Dende, looking over everyone's injuries with shock.

"The Master." Said Goku simply.

"He's as bad as we feared?"

"Worse. _Much _worse."

"I see. Well then let's take a look at-"

"_No!_" Vegeta roared suddenly. Dende moved to inspect him only to be shoved off with the man's free hand. The others eyed him with confusion until he jerked his head over to the unconscious form of his son who was hoisted up by Tien and Piccolo. "See to Trunks first! The boy's entire frame was crushed by immense gravity far beyond what his body could handle. Whatever pain I'm is nothing compared to his - he'll die if you don't do something quickly!"

"Vegeta. . ." muttered Goku. The Prince of all Saiyans really had come a long way from being a destructive, greedy murderer who never thought of others. The pain he must've been experiencing was unrivalled and yet still he put Trunks as his first priority.

"But. . . If I don't do something soon there's a good chance I'll never be able to restore your arm!" informed Dende.

Vegeta growled in frustration; the idea of losing his arm for good infuriated him, but it was a risk he was willing to take; every second Trunks grew weaker and weaker and it was only now that he saw that the man was hanging in by a mere thread. "Do as I say!" he insisted.

With no further need for prompting Dende got to work on Trunks's extensive injuries, realising in an instant that they were more severe than he'd initially thought. With the amount of time it would take Dende to heal Trunks it would be too late for his arm, and so it boiled down to the choice of either a man's arm or a man's life. Gohan was laid on the steps for a fussy Mr. Popo to examine his wounds. The hybrid was a true fighter and would be on his feet again within a few days if the quickened saiyan healing did its work, but in this time a few days were precious indeed.

They had remaining just one week until the room's next shift when The Master would finally be able to cross over into this universe and wreak havoc upon it. Every day counted, for their training would have to be more intense than it ever had before if they were to stand a chance against a monster like that. The fact that they'd probably not seen his full strength yet frightened them even more.

Suddenly the group turned to an approaching ki to the south as a short fighter rose over the lip of the Lookout's edge. Krillin had sensed their power levels the moment they returned and hadn't wasted a second getting up in the middle of the night and flying to them immediately. He was clad in his dusty gi of the same brand both Goku and Goten wore and to the Z-Fighters looked younger and fitter than ever.

"Krillin? That you?" checked Tien. "Whoa, the dragon really gave you a makeover huh?"

Krillin only grinned in acknowledgement before noticing the state Vegeta and Trunks were in to give him a look of the utmost worry. "Trunks! Vegeta! Goku what happened?"

"Remember this guy The Master I told you about?" Goku reminded.

"Yeah?"

"It was him; Vegeta lost his arm trying to save me. . . It's my fault he's like that."

"_Idiot!_" came the sudden, drawn out berating of the saiyan Prince. "It's _my _fault I'm in this situation, so stop feeling sorry for yourself and save your damn pity!"

Krillin only sighed to try and alleviate the intensity of their argument as both Goten and Uub stared at him with perplexed looks as if there was a fly on his head. He eyed them back suspiciously before realising what exactly they were thinking. The two of them had never seen him in his prime before, so his trademark shaven head from the old days must've looked so strange to them when compared to his usual figure of an old man.

Dende finished his work on healing Trunks, and so sweating and already exhausted he turned to Vegeta with a nervous look of apprehension. It was as he feared; there was no way for his healing powers or even a senzu bean to restore his arm to normal thanks to the way it had been scorched away in that almighty blast. He told the saiyan calmly that he could only stop the bleeding and through gritted teeth a wincing Vegeta shakily agreed whilst absorbing himself in thought.

What would he do now that this had happened? Should he continue fighting as a cripple? None of it was fair; he'd finally gotten over his doubts and was more ready to fight than ever before and had instantly sustained this kind of injury. He told himself that nothing ever was fair and that something like this was bound to happen sometime, but still remained optimistic and vowed to see whether or not Bulma and the company could do something about it before giving up completely. Surely there was _some way_ for him to keep going?

"Well that's it." Dende backed off from the saiyan who still stood gripping the stump of his right arm. The pain wouldn't subside for a while but he'd made sure that the man wouldn't bleed to death right there on the spot. "Does anyone have anything for the pain?" he asked in vain.

To his highest surprise Piccolo stepped forwards. "I do." He said, fishing around in his pockets as the others gave a queer look. If he had something then why hadn't he offered it after Gohan's fight? Their questions were soon answered, as from the namekian's pocket he retrieved no special ointment or drug, only a lightning fast chop swiftly delivered to the back of Vegeta's neck to knock him out cold in a single blow.

"That should do it." He growled.

Chuckles emerged from some of the younger fighters and even the older ones were forced to crack a smile; he was right – what Vegeta needed now was sleep and time to recover. Piccolo knew that no kind of painkiller could still the agony of an amputation and so put him out of his suffering. It would be less hassle this way anyway.

"He's gonna be mad when he wakes up." Gohan warned from the staircase.

"Let him be; he'll thank me later." Piccolo replied.

The temporary comedic moment provided a much needed relief of stress for the battle weary men all dying to go home, which was exactly why they were left even more disappointed with what happened next. All around the globe different energy signals opened up as what felt like Vynuls poured into the planet's atmosphere. Apparently The Master could control far more than Unidecimus, as already hundreds had appeared on the mental radars of the Z-Fighters with more bands coming in every second. Even though he couldn't reach Earth before the week was over it didn't stop him from doing whatever he could to begin his regime of terror over the universe so that he had a head start once he emerged.

It wasn't just Earth too; he could make tens of Vynuls by the second and sent them to many locations among the stars in a bid to terrorise neighbouring planets. And with the Dragon Balls gone and the Z-Fighters momentarily defeated there was nothing they could do to stop him as his monsters conquered the galaxies. Piccolo, Goten, Raditz, Uub, Tien and Krillin each turned to a different point of the Lookout with a weary Goku behind them.

"No." Said Raditz. He turned to his brother and placed a single hand on his chest to stop him from following them. The other fighters nodded in agreement of what he was about to say. "We can defend the Earth from these things - you don't have to worry about anyone dying needlessly. You just get stronger in this week and leave the Vynuls to us. We're counting on you and Vegeta to defeat this guy, because as much as we hate to admit it, we're of little help against a guy like that."

Tien nodded. "He's right Goku; don't waste your energy and time on something we can handle."

"But – it's not just Earth! He's sending them to other places too!" protested Goku.

"I know." Said Piccolo. "But the best thing we can do right now is to stay here and figure out some kind of attack. You know it as well as I do Goku; you can go around saving planets from them but what good will it do if you're still in the same shape to fight the Master as you were today? I know it's hard but try and think of the bigger picture – in the long run we'll be saving more lives."

Goku nodded reluctantly through gritted teeth and clenched fists. His failure today tortured him and sitting back in training whilst the others did all the work for the week would be tough, but Piccolo had a point. "So there's nothing you want me to do?"

Piccolo grinned. "Just one thing. Our hopes now lie within the namekian Dragon Balls to fix this mess after it's all over." The others nodded as he continued. "So send me there to defend the planet in case The Master sends Vynuls their way too."

Going on his own was a bold gesture, but even so Goku couldn't help but marvel at the intelligence behind Piccolo's proposal. This was something they'd neglected to do during some of their previous fights and took a huge risk in doing so. Not only was Piccolo powerful enough to hold his own out there, but the very fact of his species meant that he'd be the perfect candidate to communicate between the namekians and his experience in numerous battles meant that he had a solid grasp of the unnatural telepathic conversations that often took place among as many as four people with the Kais orchestrating the whole thing.

Seeing that the others supported this plan Goku nodded and quickly placed a hand on Piccolo's padded shoulder before warping them halfway across the galaxy to a spot right in the centre of planet Namek's primary village.

"You sure about this?" Goku asked, keeping a hand of comfort rested on the green man's mantle as other members of his species began to rush out around them.

Piccolo nodded. "I'm sure. I'll be in touch when the time comes."

"Alright." Goku took a step back and placed those two fingers back to his head; the saiyan looked as though he was about to leave before he added something crucial with a reassuring smile. "You stay alive, you hear me? If anything gets too crazy you call me and I'll be here in a heartbeat."

"I'll do it, but Goku-"

Goku had half activated his instant transmission and stood suspended in a flickering, holographic illusion as Piccolo left him with some final words.

"-You get stronger, and while you're at it make sure you don't end up in the same frame of mind as you did today. Right now you and Vegeta are the universe's last hope with that Super Saiyan 5 so don't screw this up; we'll only have one shot with these namekian Dragon Balls before it's game over."

With a final nod and an even wider smile of determination Goku had vanished, flinging himself faster than the speed of light across the galaxy. Villagers from all sides greeted the man, and turning to the Elder Moori, Piccolo was escorted inside for an update on the situation, but not before sparing one last look to the ever sunny emerald sky.

_Farewell Goku. I can't promise I'll stay alive, but if it means you get in good enough shape to take down The Master I'm happy to let you think it. Just don't die on us this time; I've got a feeling that this battle won't be without its fair share of casualties._

_

* * *

Yup, you read it right, tragic huh? I held off finishing this because I wanted to put the SS5 Goku drawing up with it but it's taking a little longer than I thought; I've sunk maybe 6 hours into it so far and it still needs a couple more. Most of that time is admittedly because I'm just naturally a SHIT artist and half of anything I draw relies on trial and error to get it to look right, but I really want it to look decent for you guys. I started drawing and then just got carried away with the size - it's just a portrait drawing but it uses up 3 sheets of A4! Goku and his stupid hair! :S  
_


	31. Chapter 31 Vegeta's Comeback

Chapter 31: Vegeta's Comeback

After a restless slumber Vegeta finally awoke to a splitting headache, a bruised side and an aching arm. He'd no idea how long he'd been out cold, but the moment he saw his bandage covering his injured arm the previous events came flooding back to him in a heartbeat. He smiled upon recalling the Super Saiyan 5, frowned at the crippling and fumed the moment he remembered Piccolo's bold move.

It was for his own good anyway; the pain was now manageable but elevated greatly when he unconsciously tried to move a joint that was no longer there. He was in his own room; a plain old abode filled with drawers and wardrobes more than three quarters full of Bulma's stuff. The curtains were drawn to leave him suspended in a shadowy atmosphere, heightening his gloomy demeanour as he slowly got changed, wondering what to do with the day. Should he train? Could he?

Just as he was about to settle on an answer though, the wooden door suddenly burst open with no hint of a knock and his fussy wife rushed in carrying an awkwardly shaped box.

"Bulma? Wh-"

"Alright take off those bandages mister." She interrupted, sitting him back down on the bed and fixing him with a dominating stare to heighten her command.

Vegeta looked confused, and so he blankly looked from the woman to the box in her hands. "Why? What is that?"

"Always so stubborn. . ." she reflected. "Are you gonna take them off or am I gonna to have to rip them off!"

"Alright, okay." muttered Vegeta. He could've pushed her away without laying a finger on her or flown out of the window any time he pleased, but right now he had no wish for any kind of argument and so reluctantly complied with the woman's wishes. He winced as the final piece of cloth was removed, as the blood had stuck it the stump of his arm to ensure that taking it off required some coaxing. Even in this short space of time the wound had begun to scar over, though still flesh remained in sight for Bulma to get to work.

"How long have I been out?" he asked.

"Almost two days." She replied.

Suddenly the Prince noticed small bags of sleep deprivation under the eyes of his beloved wife as she rooted around in the box she carried. "And I'm guessing you haven't slept for any of that time."

She ignored his question and placed a finger to his lips with a cheery look of optimism despite the disfiguring injury her husband was faced with, and he was about to find out why. From the box she suddenly withdrew what he thought at first was a real hand, though further inspection revealed it to be a wholly convincing replica. Not just any replica though; the attachment was definitely moulded after his own hand and was identical to the missing part of his forearm that had been torn away in the explosion.

"I took detailed scans of your left hand and combined them with your body scans in your training room to make the perfect replacement. Here, give me your arm."

With a twinge of apprehension the Prince raised what remained of his right arm and gave it to Bulma, who gently placed the replica in position whereupon four clamps suddenly sprouted from the sides and latched onto his flesh as she began her work intricately connecting his muscles and nerves piece by piece through a slot that had opened at the joining to give her a full view of the operation.

"This might sting a bit." She warned him.

Vegeta nodded as pinpricks like the intrusive stabbing of needles jammed their way into his arm one at a time. What amazed him most of all was that the hand and arm extension seemed to be made of organic material, and that it was only the very core that was comprised of wiring and odd bits of metal. He wondered just how much effort Bulma had poured into this in such a short amount of time and imagined her face when she'd found out what happened to him, and as grateful as he was for her help a few things still eluded him.

"So how exactly does this thing work?"

Bulma smiled at her husband's interest in her work. "Well, it's made up of all the joints in your wrist, fingers and knuckles that you'll control just as normal since it's connecting itself to your nervous system right now. Actually you might be regaining feeling in it."

Vegeta realised that she was right; the object that he'd seen as just a foreign invader just a minute ago now tingled with a warm sensation to join the rest of his body.

"In fact I'd go as far as to say what happened was actually good news after all. Your forearm and your hand are now more sturdy and powerful than ever, you see the 'bones' are made from the strongest titanium."

"That may be, but the strongest titanium may as well be paper to the kind of attacks I can put out and receive – how do I know this thing won't fall apart when I try blasting someone with it?"

Bulma only looked at the man with another expression of irritancy. "Not one for modesty are you? And you don't think I _know_ that? I had Goku fire his most powerful attack at your precious Super Saiyan 5 level through it and built it to sustain even more than that."

"Kakarot helped you with this?"

"He felt guilty about what happened so he stuck around for a while, in fact he only just left an hour or two ago. He's not very scientifically inclined, bless him, but since I had to test its durability a few times. . . Well, there's no one in the galaxy better for _that _job."

"Indeed." Vegeta looked down with a mix of the inevitable disappointment he'd had since waking and hesitant awe at this new attachment. He clenched his fist and cracked knuckles that behind organic skin were harder than steel as both the woman and the built in microcomputer finished their work and the opening slot in his wrist folded itself over. From anyone else's viewpoint he looked completely normal; the thing blended in perfectly, looking identical to its former self and feeling very much the same too.

_It's not perfect_. _Nothing beats the real thing._ He noted. _But it'll have to do for now. Until I find a way to restore myself properly this will more than suffice for the time being._

Bulma smiled "After all I've been looking for something like this to work on anyway – even great minds like mine will go dull if I don't challenge myself every once in awhile."

"Try crosswords." Remarked Vegeta dryly.

Bulma pulled an expression of great offence before laughing and smacking his hand like a disobedient child. "Jerk."

Silence suddenly spread across the room as Vegeta's face warped into one of silent confusion. The man looked almost devastated by something that had just happened, but the woman could see nothing wrong. For a moment she suspected that some 'great new energy' had appeared in his super-psychic radar until she checked to confirm. "Vegeta, what's up?"

"That - your hand." He replied, referring to when she'd playfully slapped him a few seconds ago. "Why didn't that hurt?"

"Oh that? I set your nerves running in and out of it to a level sensitive enough for you to have full control but numb enough so that you don't feel any pain: clever, huh?"

Another few moments of silence occurred before the man erupted in rage. "_Idiot!_" he growled. "Why the hell would you do that!"

"Excuse me!"

"No pain! Do you realise how disastrous that could be!"

Bulma looked shocked and offended at her husband's apparent ungratefulness. "Well, sorry for trying to help you then! I suppose you want me to take the whole thing back!"

Vegeta sighed and slapped both hands to his head; in situations like this it often took him a while to calm down and see clearly. He could see exactly where she was coming from – she didn't want him to get hurt and it was only natural for someone so caring. And so with another huff of impatience he took his wife's hands in his own and spoke with direct eye contact. "Look, I know you don't want me in pain and I'm. . ." he suddenly choked on words that once sickened him. "Grateful. . . For everything you've done, but do you really think I'd be half the warrior I am today if I couldn't feel pain? If we're going to win this battle Kakarot and I have to be in full control with no half measures; I have to know when something's going wrong and learn from it as quickly as possible. Pain - and the threat of it, makes our every movement in battle possible. I know it might not make much sense from your point of view, but just try and see it from mine."

Bulma nodded slowly, coming back in a heartbeat after being on the verge of what seemed to be either tears or unconquerable wrath. "I suppose I understand." She muttered with a nod. "I can reattach the arm so that your pain receptors are responsive – it shouldn't take so long, but I warn you it's gonna be way more painful than the last one."

Vegeta then sported a smirk which morphed into a hollow laugh of genuine amusement. "Exactly." He said.

* * *

As Trunks ducked under the clumsy swing of a skinny grey arm he brought up a screaming fist ignited with the flame of Super Saiyan energy to snap an attacking Vynul's arm right out of its skin before moving onto the next. Krillin and Uub also moved in alongside him as the group danced toe to toe with a pack of the Master's decrepit creatures, who seemed hell-bent on tearing them apart without any thought to make them easily killable. They attacked without thinking the next move through, and so even fighters of a slightly lesser intellect like Goten or even Goku could easily outsmart them, as thanks to their experience they constantly planned ahead without even realising.

Uub ducked under the buzzing saw of an especially wide Destructo Disk and spun into a kick to tear apart the Vynul Krillin's attack had just taken a leg from. Again one of the beasts struck, but utilising a nimble spin the Majin was able to somehow land a heel square to its temple. The group were fighting in a region of the Arctic North where they'd located a squad of Vynuls that had broken out and come dangerously close to annihilating a small village.

After the initial panic of multiple groups appearing two days ago the amount of Vynuls lessened, though they still remained a constant threat. Almost every hour a pack came into the atmosphere from pockets of warped space in the air and around thirty would pour in to do their worst. Since their return the six unoccupied heroes had broken up into groups: Trunks, Uub and Krillin took to the skies from dawn till the evening whilst Goten, Raditz and Tien covered the nights. Together they stopped the forces of evil from taking over whilst Goku was in strict training and Piccolo was off on Namek and Gohan and Vegeta were both in recovery.

"So Trunks!" called Krillin after a compact blast of the Kamehameha. "This might seem a little forward, but where exactly do you, Raditz and Gohan stand in this war?"

Trunks drew his blade and cut straight through an open Vynul in order to face the man again. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Uub intervened. "Oh come on Trunks, you know what he means!" he joked.

"I do?"

"Yeah! I mean, you and Raditz can both become a Super Saiyan 4 and Gohan's got his own supplies of awesome power; the talents you guys have are wasted on these things, but then again-"

"We don't really have the strength to compete with the Master?" Trunks finished the man's statement for him, to which Uub coyly shrugged.

"Well, that wasn't how I was gonna put it, but yeah I guess."

Trunks reflected; he made a valid point after all. As a Super Saiyan 4 he could annihilate these Vynuls without even touching them, but the strength difference between them and the Master was an endless void chasm; even with the new Super Saiyan 5 Goku had been bested by him, so what possible chance would he have stood? His left arm and right leg still liked to twinge uncomfortably from the battle with Duodecimus, and even that monster been burst like a grape with no effort at all from the Master.

"I'm sure that, Raditz, Gohan and I will be able to find some use for ourselves without getting in Goku and my father's way." settled Trunks

"Someone say my name?" said a voice.

The others suddenly turned to see a figure materialising from thin air and slamming the last Vynul out of the sky with a two handed smash. The creature was buried far into an enormous iceberg two hundred feet below them whereupon Gohan fired a finishing blow after it to incinerate the thing into dust.

"Hey Gohan!" cried Krillin. "I take it you're back up to full speed?"

Gohan nodded. "Yeah; Dende had regained his strength from healing Trunks and stabilising Vegeta, and by that time I was already back on my feet – just needed a little extra energy for my wounds to fully heal."

"That's great news Gohan, it's great to have you back." noted Trunks with a genuine smile.

"Hey thanks, and I hope you don't mind but I overheard your conversation. I hear where you're coming from; I really want a shot at this guy, but we both were defeated so easily by his henchmen that we probably wouldn't stand a chance against him. If worst comes to worst we might be able to stall for time, though I wouldn't like our odds – we might not last a minute in the ring with that guy."

"Yeah I know what you mean. . ." Just the very mention of his name gave Trunks a shudder. He had never even seen the Master, but given that he totally blasted off his father's arm and beat Goku at his best he didn't want to.

"Gotenks might be able to help us out though, don't you think?" offered Uub.

Trunks shook his head. "Goten and I wouldn't be able to fuse at our best since I've risen to a higher level. You have to get your power levels in synch for fusion. I've no doubt that Goten might one day be able to become a Super Saiyan 4, then we'd be able to do it effectively again, but at the strength he's at now it would be impossible; even I was only able to access it thanks to the amount of blutzwaves from a dozen surrounding planets, and here we've got only a single moon."

Gohan simply nodded with a look of defeat.

"But there's still hope – I know which fusion I'd put my money on." said Trunks

Silence pervaded the air until Gohan presumptuously spoke again.

"Gogeta."

"Yeah, my father might hate fusion more than anything in the world, but if push comes to shove he'll probably do it. And if we thought the last time was awesome, then it'll be out of this world if they tried it with a Super Saiyan 5."

"Why, what happened last time?" asked Krillin, as he'd been the only one not present at the defeat of their last major enemy.

"They went from being totally outclassed by Omega Shenron to making him look like a weakling. But then again it might not matter; there's always the chance that my father might just outright refuse to do it."

Gohan suddenly laughed in amusement. "Oh I'm not sure about that Trunks." He said. "Vegeta's up and about; Bulma somehow made him a new arm so he's basically made a full recovery. In fact he's in training as we speak."

"Father's up! That's great!" cried Trunks. Krillin and Uub also looked ecstatic at the news, as even they knew that with his new transformation Vegeta could make the difference between defeat and victory.

"Oh well that's not the best part – I never said what kind of training he's in."

The three then looked to Gohan as he built up the tension of this new revelation. He continued with a smile in seeing that he held the interest of Trunks, Krillin and Uub.

"Right now Vegeta's breaking his usual routine of solitary training. . . For four days of nonstop battle against my Dad."

* * *

Punch after punch followed every frenzied ricochet of a high intensity energy blast as the two titans duked it out on some faraway world lightyears away from Earth. The ground beneath them was made up of a simple black rock face; jagged and sharpened whilst also being worn at the flat surfaces from years of abuse from the torrential rain, high winds and meteor showers. At this time of season a violent storm raged over this desolate world to soak the fighters in its cold, pneumonia inducing blanket. Perhaps it was like this all the time here, or perhaps Mother Nature had emptied her bowels in fright upon seeing what the two newcomers had in store for the planet.

Vegeta wheeled into an aerial somersault before starting a flipping descent into a spinning kick from above aimed straight for the drenched black hair of Goku's Super Saiyan 5 form, with its individual locks looking even sharper in the drowning rain. It had taken Vegeta only a few hours to access and re-familiarise himself with the form, as thanks to him attaining it naturally he could unlock its power whenever he pleased. Already he could feel the effects of their battle serving his own strength and heightening his techniques. Each set a gravity enhancer to the maximum of one thousand times the Earth's normal pressure, whilst this forsaken planet added on another hundred for them to get accustomed to.

During this time they never stopped their combat for anything other than a few demeaning taunts to one another, and even then they were kept brief enough.

Goku moved away with all the speed he could muster before twirling into a powerful elbow that slammed straight into Vegeta's chest and sent the Super Saiyan 5 careering down into the planet's sharp terrain and skidding along its surface. Having much more experience and knowledge of the Super Saiyan 5's power, Goku rarely failed to outmatch Vegeta during their exchanges, but after a full two days without slumber, fuelled only by this strange concoction of an energy elixir Mr. Popo had given them, he could see that Vegeta had improved rapidly.

It was like he was so eager to protect his home and get back in shape that he'd do whatever it took to master the Super Saiyan 5 in as short a time as possible. He was determined to make himself an asset in this final battle that they couldn't afford to lose and vowed to ascend past the strength that Kakarot had harboured during his fight with The Master even in this short amount of time. Of course Goku also improved; very soon he'd left that level of power behind and become a whole new fighter with a man like Vegeta testing him beyond either of their limits and the intense gravity making every slight movement a struggle to stay in one piece.

As a pair of screaming tornados the pair suddenly launched at one another, Goku from above and Vegeta from below. The saiyans collided, with their impact of their matching punches creating a suspended sphere of water in the surrounding rain before they each smashed one another backwards a hundred metres into the storm. Both placed hands to their thighs, suspended in midair to catch their breath the moment they slowed to a halt – but now was not the time to be stopping. Both knew this just as well as the other; they could afford no breaks and no half measures in this time they'd been given, and so simultaneously two balls of destructive energy spewed out in a charging position from their palms.

A wicked bolt of lightning struck the field between the two as they turned into respective poses. Goku cupped back a vivid ball of the purest azure whilst Vegeta arched his whole body in a pose that almost resembled a stretching cat with a golden light shining from his hands.

"_KAMEHAMEHA!"_

"_FINAL FLASH!_

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_Piccolo? . . Piccolo? . . Man I must be getting old; the guy can't even hear me properly and I'm-_

_King Kai?_ came the disgruntled reply of the namekian, sounding perfectly at ease with the conversation going on in his mind.

_Oh, there you are Piccolo._ answered the bumbling Kai.

_What is it?_

_Well there's a matter of great urgency that needs addressing, Kibito Kai asked me to set up a link with you since you're in my quadrant of the universe you see._

_Put me through._ Piccolo replied.

_Ooh not so talkative today huh?_ figured the stout blue man. As his sarcastic quip was met by nothing but unimpressed silence he continued straight away. _Very well then, let me see if I can get a connection._

Another few moments of silence followed by an annoying, buzzing static in Piccolo's mind occurred as North Kai moved his antenna to receive signals from planet Kaishin. He did so within moments and Kibito Kai's pleasant, polite sounding tone joined the conversation.

_Piccolo, how are you keeping?_ he asked.

_I'm alright; two dozen Vynuls pour in every day but it's nothing I can't handle – From what I can sense it's far worse on Earth._ said Piccolo.

_Your senses are right. It seems the Master is desperately trying to get rid of as many potential threats as he can before he materialises. But his minions are weak and your friends are strong, it's a shame the rest of the universe isn't blessed with such fighters though – the cosmos is in complete disarray._

_So I noticed. What's this about anyway? I assume you didn't call me here just to check on how I'm doing._

Kibito Kai paused, as if astounded by the bluntness of this man when speaking to the overseer of the entire universe. _No indeed._ he finally settled on. _I called to query on the status of the namekian Dragon Balls._

_Well you can put your queries at ease Kibito Kai, they're all gathered together and they're safe as long as I'm here._ Piccolo assured.

_That's great Piccolo! This is excellent news! I will call upon you soon when the final battle begins – If we keep them stored until this is over then we may be able to save every innocent life lost by the Master's hands and his that of his creatures, and even if we are forced to use them during the battle we still have two extra wishes at our disposal to aid Goku and Vegeta in the battle._

_Yeah well don't be too ambitious with those wishes; I managed to persuade the Elder to let us use them, but he was hesitant to allow us after hearing about what happened last time we tried to use our own. If we use up too much energy we could have another disaster on our hands._ settled Piccolo.

_Of course, you're correct as usual. We'll do everything we can to put things right with as little energy as possible. See you soon Piccolo._

_Hopefully not too soon Kai._

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For four straight days the sparring matches between two men whose power quite literally exceeded that of the beings closest to gods raged on in space. The two landed after another exchange to catch their breath and prepared to attack again. For the briefest amount of time Goku allowed his mind to wander back to the Earth before shaking his head and remembering what his partner had said before.

"_Kakarot concentrate! Stop playing around!_" Vegeta had chastised on the first day, noticing how distracted the man was. "_I brought you out here to get away_ _from the Earth; your friends will take care of the Master's minions. And as you know, you can't beat me with any less than a thousand percent of your focus!" _

He was right after all; Goku knew better than any that he couldn't let anything distract him if he was to gain both the physical and mental strength required for a battle with the Master. If he was to prepare he had to treat this like a real battle and throw aside all his inhibitions, purely engrossing himself in the rush of the duel and giving in to his instincts completely.

The two saiyans instantly felt a decline in their fatigue as Popo's special potion began to wear off, and so just as they'd done numerous times in this ordeal, each retrieved a small glass vial from the scattered mess of empty ones strewn atop a sheet of cloth nailed to the planet's surface. Dende and Popo hadn't yet named the strange cocktail, but whatever it was it sustained their stamina at a fresh level for a full hour until it suddenly vanished and left them in their true level of fatigue. Every time the hour wore off their level of tiredness was worse than the last, making this small trek of a few short paces an arduous hike using leaden, weighted legs whilst their eyes remained almost completely shut of their own accord.

After a minute or so of dizzy fumbling and the two desperately trying to stay awake they managed to unscrew the respective corks. They downed what tasted like a strawberry tasting liquid mixed with cough syrup until the potion was gone and the two instantly felt revitalised with a warm sensation flooding their veins. Now that they could see clearly the saiyans noticed the amount of empty bottles on the floor, and the abundance of full ones.

"It looks like those were the last ones." Goku noted.

He was right, but the implications of his statement were far worse than just being out of juice. Just as Dende and Popo had planned, the two had managed to stay awake completely for the first twenty four hours and only after that did they have to rely on the vials for energy. Three more days had passed since then, and so the two of them had each consumed seventy two bottles of that rich liquid as Dende and Mr. Popo had instructed them. The fact that they'd just drunk the last two meant that their time was almost over – they now had one final hour of training before a well deserved rest to use up the last day before the Master's arrival.

"Think we've done enough?" asked Goku all of a sudden.

Vegeta smirked in response. "Let's see shall we?"

His quip was met with a knowing nod from the saiyan as for the first time in four days the pair raised their gravity enhancers and thumbed them off, releasing all one thousand multiplications of the Earth's natural gravity and restoring their bodies to a sensation that made them feel oddly lighter than a feather-stuffed pillow. Another nod was shared between the two as they each powered up to the recently discovered level of the Super Saiyan 5 in a flash of light.

The sudden power output destroyed the ground at their feet and almost caused the whole planet to buckle in on itself. The two had never been stronger, and had each passed the level of strength they'd felt the Master wield on the day of their last fight. They didn't let this go to their heads though, as they knew that the idea of him having reserves was a strong possibility, but nevertheless they'd done all they could in such a short space of time without the use of a Room. Fighting all out like this would annihilate the planet they stood upon for sure, and probably Earth if they risked fighting there, but the temptation to at least get a taste of this power was overwhelming.

With a neon stream of both orange and blue, Goku and Vegeta had vanished in a burst of the swiftest speed and met in the centre with forearms locked against one another, as both had brought up mirroring elbows to thwart the other. Goku's gave a twinge of discomfort after colliding with the reinforced alloy of Vegeta's right arm though he pushed the pain aside, determined not to let him get the upper hand. Whilst it looked no different from how it should have, one feel of Vegeta's right hand was all it took for Goku to know he should stay away from it, and that was _before _he took one of his punches to the face. They'd had no problems with it throughout; as Bulma had said it held together even under the strain of a Super Saiyan 5 battle and it made not a sound even as the two of them upped the gravity back up to a thousand G's.

In their last hour of freedom the two saiyans battled more fiercely than they ever had in the last four days. They held nothing back and each gave in to the goal of beating the other. From their power levels it was clear that Goku's was naturally higher, but over their training the gap between them had narrowed from a ravine into a small stride, as was usually the case when Vegeta set his mind on something. Kakarot was always just that tiny step away from him, yet it was this prospect that he'd once found so maddening that now aided him in his training, giving him a clear goal to match and taking amusement in giving the living legend a run for his money.

Punches and kicks were thrown until they could be thrown no more and ki blasts were charged until they could constantly feel a circuit of ki burning up their arms. For the longest time they were lost in the excitement of battle until the inevitable finally happened. The two rebounded after a high speed collision and raced towards one another in a show of what could only be described as jousting. With their impact drawing near the two made eye contact before Goku suddenly noticed Vegeta's eyelids waver. A second later the Prince was in freefall as the effects of the potion wore off and Goku's punch hit nothing but empty air. He warped to the floor for a better landing and braced himself for the feeling that came the next moment of an exhausted sensation far worse than the last. However instead of fighting it he now knew that his time was up, and so let his body have the rest it cried out for as he slipped into the deepest sleep of his life.

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_If there were any spelling mistakes there I apologise - didn't save my second edit and I really didn't feel like going through it all a third time. Anyway from now on it's pure mayhem so I hope you're ready_.

_And before you guys ask no this is not the end of Vegeta's arm subplot; there's more to it. As some of you may know Vegeta's my favourite character in all of Dragon Ball and quite possibly throughout all the anime/manga I've seen/read, so I'm NOT going to spoil him._

_With that out of the way we can move onto the main event! Now as you guys are aware I've been working on a picture of the Super Saiyan 5 Goku that's been in my head for a while. Well now it has finally become a reality. The links are down below and if clicking them takes you to a warped, zoomed out version just click the picture and it should take you to a clearer, but more zoomed in version. . . Thanks for that ImageShack, you really know how to compliment a guy. The scan wasn't perfect: some of the lighter colour like the faint pink of Goku's face and chest have vanished and his orange seems lighter, also it decided to trim the tops and bottoms of the paper so the full thing might look a little weird, so I put in a picture of just the main piece as well. _

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_Alright after two hours of it taking the piss I've finally got the images. The site won't let me post them on these chapters but for some reason they're okay to put on my account, so just click my name that's probably up at the top somewhere and the links are at the bottom of my page. Enjoy :D  
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_Anyway it's not perfect but I'm still hella proud of it and it took me a long time to create. And before anyone calls me on this - yes I did use a couple of existing pictures of the Super Saiyan 4 purely for guidance, I didn't copy directly off them it's just the whole design and especially the hairstyle are impossible to replicate and then amplify without a picture to show what it looks like in the first place. I didn't include the aura just becuase of paper - if you look his arms are right near the edge so I'd have to add in another page on either side if I just wanted to aura. But if you guys like the drawing I can draw up Vegeta too, now THAT would be badass. Stay cool, I'm going for a well deserved lounge._


	32. Chapter 32 The Battle Overhead

Chapter 32: The Battle Overhead

Planet Earth – 5:34 AM

The hour was unremarkable around the globe as the folk of the Earth either slept or went about their monotonous lives none the wiser. For the longest time many had been ignorant to the threats their planet had seen or at least unknowing of any specific details. It had started back in 762 when a pair of terrorist aliens had come to their planet and destroyed West City before disappearing later on in a mysterious battle. Half a decade down the line the entity known as Cell had threatened Earth directly and through unclear circumstances it was later revealed that he had in fact been defeated by Mr. Satan, the World Martial Arts Champion, despite footage depicting a clear brawl between Cell and a group of anonymous, mostly golden haired fighters with incredible capabilities.

Almost seven years of peace had passed before Majin Buu had wiped out the entire planet only to be once again defeated by Mr. Satan. Somehow they'd been restored to life, but the events surrounding the Tuffle and the moon had eluded them once again a decade later, and sometime after that the world seemed to have been sucked of all its essence and many of its people perished in what they assumed to be another battle, though their foe this time was never identified. In all that time the people had been ignorant as to who their true saviours had been and none knew the true details of the events that passed. Conspiracy theorists often speculated on the matter, but the fact remained that the only people who knew the full details were no doubt those who truly defeated these foes time and time again. On many occasions the human race had a clear idea of when they were in trouble, such as the public threats of the Bio-Android Cell and the destruction caused by Majin Buu.

Today was another one of those days.

Every sleeping human being was woken in the chaos and the people walking the streets in the west stopped without fail to either stare up in awe at the sky or fall to the floor under the unstable tremor that shook the planet. It wasn't just Earth too; denizens from all over the universe shared the same experience of a harsh white light filling the sky with an almighty roar as a ki unlike any felt before materialised in a mental projection to those races that could sense energy.

Having traded a night shift with Trunks, Raditz was shaken from his bed to land on his back that still ached slightly from the previous day's hunting Vynuls, and like a startled ferret he glanced around with a jittery shock to get his bearings. The energy was far more potent to his acute senses and so its sudden emergence from nowhere momentarily threw off his sense of direction. He quickly got dressed without a second thought into the red and black gi that had become synonymous with him over the last few months and caught a final glance at himself in the mirror with a pause to catch his breath.

_Alright Raditz – this is it. _He reminded himself, and with that he headed out into the narrow corridor, joining Gohan on his way out. Chi-Chi rushed with them as well to get a better look of the unnatural bloom of white energy that pulsated through the entire cosmos and stained the normally pitch black sky of their peaceful nights. It was his way of showing off; there was no doubt in Raditz's mind that his own brother could do something similar if he wanted, but no - this was the Master's chosen method of establishing his existence to the entire universe, and it never failed to terrify the billions of species in the cosmos.

Trees were uprooted and a number of buildings collapsed in the worldwide earthquake. Tsunamis occurred by the second and six volcanoes erupted throughout the planet to wreak destruction upon the population. Raditz caught Gohan's eye as both fixed their expressions into stern grimaces of the utmost seriousness.

"He's early." Noted Gohan.

"I'm not sure; we knew he'd come on this date, I guess we just presumed he'd be sometime in the afternoon." Raditz's point was verified with a nod of acceptance from his nephew.

"But he's far away, that's for sure." Gohan observed, noticing that whilst his signal was unbelievably powerful now it was still faint thanks to it being too far for his senses to reach.

Raditz nodded. "How the hell are we supposed to get there anyway? It feels like he's in space."

Closer inspection revealed Raditz to be right. The Master had materialised lightyears away from them using the Room of Spirit and Time, hovering above a cluster of peaceful, indigenous planets in the void of space.

"He is. But I think we've got a way to get up there." informed Gohan. Naturally the older saiyan turned an intrigued glance his way, but the man only beckoned with a twitch of his head and carried on. "Come on, we should get to the Lookout."

"Right."

After a brief farewell to an already panicking Chi-Chi the pair moved at their quickest speeds through the air to arrive at the Lookout in just a few minutes. From here they could see the convulsing, distorted blanket of energy covering the planet much better even as it started to disappear. With their night of hunting Vynuls interrupted, Goten, Tien and Trunks were already present along with Dende and a terrified looking Mr. Popo. Uub and Krillin joined them a few minutes later to complete the motley roster of fighters. They knew that Goku and Vegeta would meet up with them soon since they'd been training on another planet, but strangely enough their energy signals still couldn't be felt. Had they really slept through this racket? If anyone could it would be those two, especially after the training they'd no doubt endured, but now it would be a matter of life and death rather than the usual comic relief.

A huge upsurge of ki could then be felt from far away as The Master fired an almighty blast wipe one of the planets he towered above out of existence. Apparently he had no more concerns for the Z-Fighters anymore since he saw them as no threat to him; it was a mistake that many of their foes had made before, but one that right now they had no idea how to rectify. Regardless, they had to get up there. Even if Goku and Vegeta weren't here yet they had to stop him from causing more destruction. But how? The monster was suspended above a cluster of planets in the open void of space, an area in which the Z-Fighters couldn't survive.

"Trunks, you ready?" checked Gohan.

The lavender haired saiyan nodded and suddenly began to power up as the other fighters shot perplexed looks in his direction. Soon he'd accessed the Super Saiyan 4; it was a form he'd recently gotten to grips with, though its full power still escaped him. With no time to waste Trunks drew his sword; light of the arriving dawn bounced from the blade's surface to make it appear brighter than ever and its beauty was amplified further when the saiyan traced a perfect circle in the air trailed by a wispy silver energy. Suddenly he pulled back the sword before thrusting it straight into the circle, filling it with his own ki with a shout of "_Echo Force!_"

It was the same technique he'd utilised in his battle against Seni - the dome of repellent ki that was impenetrable and would reflect any attack that hit its surface. He shrouded the small group of martial artists in its cool glow before Gohan nodded in approval and turned his gaze to the Majin.

"Alright Uub, take us to him." He said.

Goten interjected. "Wait! To the Master? We can't survive in the void of space you know."

"That's what this shield is for – nothing can get in unless Trunks wants it to, and that includes the natural atmosphere. We're in a completely closed space here."

Goten took a few seconds to work out the explanation in his head and reply with 'Oh yeah!'

After another check to see if everyone was ready, Gohan gave the signal to Uub, and as he felt the lurch of an Instant Transmission encompassing the small area Raditz observed just how mature his eldest nephew was. Without Goku's morale or Vegeta's strict authority the others looked to Gohan for leadership and he certainly delivered, being quick and decisive without hesitation. He'd changed so much from the spoiled brat Raditz had kidnapped all those years ago.

A flash signalled the warp and after travelling at the speed of light for just a few moments the group found themselves on the other side of the galaxy, suspended in space in a sphere of the holiest white above five planets that used to be six. The Master turned in their direction and Trunks almost lost control of his technique upon meeting those ruthless, dead eyes that screamed nothing but malice. He fired a lazy blast in their direction, but even that rocked the Echo Force and failed to reflect back under its immense pressure. Trunks struggled to regain control, but as he fortified his defences Uub warped them again, this time appearing behind the Master in their protective bubble.

From here they couldn't attack; only defend, as racing out to meet him would mean exposing themselves to zero oxygen and a temperature far below that which they could survive in.

"I have no more interest in your pathetic species." Informed the Master quietly. "Your strongest fighter was such a disappointment."

"Well wait until you see what we have in store for you this time!" said Gohan. It was a pure bluff – none of them could even come close to the Master's strength, but the least they could do was get him on an equal playing field for when Goku and Vegeta arrived. "How about we find an empty planet and I'll show you what _real _power is!"

"_Or how about I show you right now!_"

The Master charged a focused blast of violet ki their way, which would've connected and possibly shattered their shields had Uub not teleported them away at the last moment. They faced their foe yet again from another angle, but after Gohan did a swift check of their numbers he realised one was missing. Through the silver tinted window of the Echo Force they witnessed one of their number materialise right in the void of space and land a fully powered up smash to the Master's jaw, catching him off guard and showing that surprisingly, he could be harmed. Even more surprising was the culprit, who now stood ready and confident, completely unharmed in the void of space.

It was Uub. Gohan scolded himself for not seeing this coming; over time they'd noticed that the powers Uub had in his previous incarnation as Majin Buu had slowly returned to him over time. The ability to turn things into candy was always present with him, but recently he'd displayed talents like regeneration, and his power increase never seemed to experience limitations, and now he'd regained the ability to survive in the void of space. Even now as he powered up his ki level showed that he'd tapped into more power that his former self wielded _on top_ of his own to put his strength on par with that of a Super Saiyan 4. This was the kind of potential Goku had hoped for when he took the boy under his wing – finally Uub was realising just how much strength he could harbour, and whilst it seemed too little too late for a fight with the Master, he had enough handy tricks to be able to stall for time effectively.

With a show of heavily practiced Transmissions Uub managed to evade every single blast once the Master started firing his way like an avid whack-a-mole player. He diverted the creature's attention away from Trunks's Echo Force surrounding the other fighters, acting as a clear diversion until the others got here. It was clear that even one of these blasts would finish or at least put him out of action if they connected so avoiding them was crucial, but since the instant transmission used up a fair amount of ki he wondered just how long he could keep this up without being hit.

"Is that all you can do? Run away?" taunted the Master.

His fighting talk served its purpose well, as his cool mocking made Uub rethink his plan of action before darting behind the man and aiming a rapid leg sweep in his direction. He succeeded perfectly in tripping the Master up and off his balance, but thanks to being in the void of space he hit no floor and after only a split second in freefall the behemoth spun into a violent punch that would've connected with the Majin's crown had he not transmitted away just in time.

"Uub! Get out of there!"cried Gohan. As much as he wanted to aid him he knew that without the ability to survive in space his talents were useless, and so refrained from selflessly throwing himself out of the protective sphere. As he expected Uub disobeyed his orders completely and re-engaged his tactics of transmitting between blasts. Like the others he was determined to be an asset in this battle, and if his only use was giving his life in exchange for stalled time then so be it.

"Borrowed techniques and cheap tricks." Assumed the Master, recognising the instant transmission from his fight with Goku. "And I thought your kind were supposed to be strong."

Uub only snarled in response, but his anger drove a wry smile across the fiend's lips as he saw how his taunts affected the man. With that the Master wasted no more time in toying with Uub and unloaded a deadly barrage of blasts one after the other. With the frequency of them raining down upon the man like torrential rain Uub was prohibited from transmitting very far, and instead found that his only option was warping from one spot to the next as the Master condensed his area of fire to provide him with less opportunity to escape his blasts. Only one mode of defence was available to Uub now, and so he quietly began storing up energy in the palms of his hands whilst the safe zones he teleported between grew less frequent by the second.

From a safe distance the Z-fighters watched in agony; it was clear that Uub couldn't maintain this for much longer. The Master now chuckled evilly as the sadistic side Unidecimus had inherited from him showed its face. He pressed his rapidly pumping arms closer together, feeling his blasts become tighter and more compact, focussed now on a tiny space around the Majin as a golden rain that overwhelmed him.

"Now die."

A flash of light sparked as the Master suddenly focussed his range and aimed his storm of ki attacks at the tiny area that would surely hit the Majin before the familiar sound of his transmission occurred and the whooshing sound of his teleportation sounded behind him. One look over his shoulder showed the creator of the Vices that Uub had materialised right behind him wielding a ball of the bluest energy, primed and ready to unload.

"_HAAA!_"

The Z-Fighters could only look on in shock; the blast was filled with every ounce of Uub's strength and rocketed away at point blank range in a Kamehameha that could only be bested by Goku's. Their hearts elated as for a moment his beam seemed to strike true, and even Uub himself sported a look of satisfaction for the briefest second before the unthinkable happened.

He'd been stood barely half a metre behind the Master, yet somehow between his moment of firing and his blast hitting its mark the Master had turned around, poured what appeared to only be a slight amount of energy into his hand and swiped the incredible beam away with a flick of his wrist akin to a cat lazily swatting a pesky gnat from the sky. Completely unfazed by his incredible feat, the Master now loomed over a terrified Uub, who panicked and acted rashly after being hit with such unbridled fear. He launched forwards with an overhand punch that was quickly caught by the Master's left hand and latched on with a vice-like grip. Under this much strain the enemy knew that even if Uub did manage to summon up the strength to transmit it would be pointless anyway, as he'd take the Master along with him and his lack of energy meant he couldn't go far.

"_Uub!_" cried Goten. He found it difficult to keep his gaze focused when he knew that there was nothing any of them could do now to save his life. Whether they liked it or not, Uub was going to die. The Majin lashed out with his free hand, though withdrew it in an instant when the Master ruthlessly twisted his wrist to break his trapped arm like it was no sturdier than a twig. He cried out in pain, with his free arm lacking the conviction to move in knowing that his first action had done so much damage.

The Master drove his free hand hard and fast all the way through Uub's fragile stomach all the way up to his forearm, impaling him on the spot and reducing his cry into a stifled whimper. With that, his screams were silenced. Through buzzing ears and a swimming headache drunk with pain he heard the others shout his name in panic, but even their cries somehow sounded muffled when compared to the spine-chilling whispering of the Master in his ear.

"You can regenerate can't you?" he hissed, meeting the Majin's gaze with a sadistic gaze of purple. "Well that's okay." he added. Suddenly he channelled a vast amount of his bottomless well of energy into his piercing arm to set Uub's nervous system ablaze with the destructive force of malevolent ki. The young man quaked and began to violently seizure under the shock as around him the Z-Fighters witnessed tiny jolts of lightning start to burst their way out of his skin and obliterate his very body from the inside out.

"_Uub! No!" _under the strain of seeing one of his oldest friends being torn apart Trunks's hold on the Echo Force weakened and a cold draught only a fraction of the cosmos's true temperature flowed in through cracks. Tien gripped his shoulder to pour in more ki and stabilise the barrier. While he was far from heartless Tien was more relaxed than many of the others thanks to his experience with this kind of thing already. He and Raditz both knew that this had been Uub's choice and that to sacrifice their own lives would be fruitless, especially when the Dragon Balls could restore him.

The energy pervading Uub's body ramped up for a final time to a level that he knew would tear him apart with nothing he could do against it. His regenerative capabilities were useful, but not nearly on the same level the evil blob that had proceeded him thanks to Uub being made from flesh and blood. There was no surviving this one, but there was still one more thing he could do before he left for the next life. Tearfully Uub raised his free hand, mustering up all the strength that remained and tapping into his life's energy that was needed to perform such a simple task under the Master's current of energy making his body into a human circuit board.

With a final wail of effort Uub's arm was raised and firmly gripped the Master's shoulder. He grinned after the Master realised his plan all too late, knowing that out of his ultimate defeat would come a slight victory.

As the two of them were in contact, Uub's instant transmission that converted the last of his life's energy into one technique that warped them as far as he could manage: down onto the surface of one of the five planets they hovered above; the only one out them that harboured no intelligent life forms and the only one that could sustain human life.

Goten frantically looked around in shock. "Where'd they go!"

"Down there!" Raditz pointed to the odd red planet that seemed shrouded in a faint red mist far below them. He then turned to Trunks still firmly holding their only hope in place. "Think you have enough strength to get us there?" he asked.

"I can sure try!" was Trunks's response, and with that he tilted his body forwards and pointed to the small planet with a hand glowing with silver energy to get them moving at high speeds towards the Master's ki signal. Uub's had disappeared completely with his final technique, signifying his death in a foreign place alone and without help. It was all enough to bring tears to the eyes of some of the younger fighters before the wizened elders gave them words of comfort.

"Now's not the time for mourning him." muttered Raditz. "We can't go into this battle saddened or enraged; we have to stay focused if we're to have any chance of reviving him." He added. The others reluctantly nodded, entering the planet's atmosphere with heavy hearts still guiltily filled with hatred and fear before Krillin suddenly intervened.

"Trunks! Stop!" he ordered.

The saiyan did so and the group simultaneously gave the shaven headed man their attention upon his command. He might not have had the same power as some of the frontline fighters, but Krillin's intuition and experience provided him with an incredible sensory range, and it was clear that he'd picked something up by the way he looked around before settling on one direction with a fixed stare.

"Something's coming." He muttered.

"Is it my dad!" Goten posited with a look of glee.

"Wait. . ." Krillin's head twitched as he concentrated hard on the signal, closing his eyes for better focus. "No – the ki is different – he's surviving in space for one - and if Goku was coming he'd be with Vegeta; this guy's alone."

"Do you have any idea who he is?" asked Gohan.

Krillin shook his head. "Uh-uh. All I know is that he's strong, and that I have a bad feeling about this. He's travelling way too fast for me to feel comfortable around him that's for sure."

Even as Krillin finished his sentence Gohan and Raditz both felt an unmistakeable presence establish itself on their own psychic radars approaching at speeds faster than any they'd witnessed before. No sooner had Goten and Tien sensed the energy did a bright fleck of the holiest white come into view, racing towards them without hesitation. Now that he'd come closer they could feel that the true extent of his power was a different kind of energy; it was similar, yet somehow the polar opposite of the Master's own ki, and it rivalled their foe's own to an almost parallel degree.

Raditz smiled. "I don't think you have to worry Krillin – I reckon I know who this guy is. At any rate we should get down there; that way Trunks can recover for if we need to take off again. Besides, we don't wanna miss the fireworks do we?"

"Hardly." answered Gohan with a smirk, as he too had a feeling in his gut that told him who exactly this newcomer was.

A few months ago when the Z-Fighters had enquired into the nature of the Master through telepathy between themselves and the Elder Kai, they'd been told that this Lord of Evil had an antithesis – a bane to his dark power and a harbinger of the light. The Elder Kai had told them that this man would no doubt be dead by now or at least too far away to be of any help, but these kinds of 'probably' statements they'd learned to know almost always came to pass, and this new ki seemed to prove them right. As they descended down onto the planet: a blood red desert waste filled with a crimson mist polluting the air, the man streamed past them towards the Master concealed by his shrouding energy of the purest white light imbued with flecks of golden strikes.

Whilst the world had a breathable atmosphere, this sorry excuse for Mars pushed the Z-Fighters to enhance their senses; particularly sight, into overdrive. The vicious sandstorm swept up by the amount of energy now swirling around it made it impossible to see more than ten metres ahead without amplifying one's senses in some fashion. The atmosphere was humid and gave a sense of closeness, granting the fighters a new layer of sweat to soak their martial arts uniforms. The sand also made running next to impossible since they couldn't take two steps without sinking one foot half a metre into the planet's surface. But it was alright – they had no intention on running anyway, and instead the group accelerated into a flight through the howling winds, focusing on the signal of the two energies that now came within range to guide them.

Gohan and Raditz headed the group over a multitude of rises spanning across a few hundred miles before slowing their pace in coming within range of the pair. They flew up a final slope that looked out over an enormous clearing where somehow the sandstorm had stopped. They wondered whether this was Uub's doing; whether or not he'd teleported them to a place suitable place for battle in his final act. Or maybe the planet had just stood still for these two thanks to the amount of energy they put out cancelling the winds with their own roaring current.

Gohan dived over the sandy mound and into the flat clearing before dropping into a fighting stanc and making straight for the Master in a solo dash, only to be stopped by this new fighter holding out a commanding hand to stop him.

"No!" he cried; his very voice being enough to stop the saiyan in his tracks.

For a moment Gohan paused in order to simply study this newcomer, and any doubts he had about this guy not being on their side were instantly quashed when he saw the man's appearance.

Somehow he looked like the opposite of his sworn enemy the Master. He was much more human looking and evenly proportioned, using a face that looked human whilst still having some sort of quality about it that told Gohan that he simply wasn't – he couldn't explain it if he wanted to. The man was clad in a white and golden plate armour, making the observers wonder just how warm he must've been in this humid environment, though he seemed not to care. He wore no helmet despite his hefty battle attire, showing the face of a rugged, middle aged man complete with deepened frown lines accentuated by the silvery blonde hair flowing down almost to his shoulders. By his side hung a gleaming claymore nestled in its sheath, thirsting for use to get a turn against his opponent.

"Hyperion! So glad you could make it brother! Still alive after all these years?" shot the Master.

_Brother?_ Gohan wondered whether he'd heard the man right.

The god-like entity known as Hyperion still marched towards his apparent brother until the two stood firm ten paces away from each other. "Chronus." He began. "How did you escape?"

Gohan was left shocked again. _Chronus? That's his name? _

"Oh you know me brother. I'm always finding some way to get myself into trouble." Chronus hissed. "I told you all those years ago that I'd kill you with my own two hands if I ever escaped that wretched prison you marooned me to."

Hyperion let out an entertained, hollow laugh upon his brother's bold claim. "You couldn't beat me before Chronus – what makes you think that anything's changed? Face it, with all the hate and malice you harbour there's no way you can match someone of my power."

"Shall we put that to the test, brother?"

In a flash of violet and golden light the two fighters had vanished and met at the centre of the arena with a clash of swords that sent out multicoloured sparks like fireworks into the desert air. From out of nowhere Chronus had summoned a sabre of the darkest black to clash with the thinner, yet longer claymore his brother wielded. They then separated before rushing each other once again, this time with the Master taking the offensive and taking control of their high speed clashes, keeping Hyperion on the back foot. He let out seven coordinated yet manic swipes of his curved edge; with each swing an afterimage of the blackest energy trailed his swing and augmented his attacks with an influx of dark energy.

The two hovered low a few centimetres above the ground as they raced around the arena trading combinations, but never once did Hyperion get the advantage. He parried his brother's last attack and suddenly lunged forwards in a stabbing motion before being forced to dash backwards a few paces to escape a reverse swipe from his cunning opponent. Realising that he was completely out of his league, Gohan dashed back to his group as the clash of the titans ramped up into to full swing.

Chronus pressured his brother all the way over to a spot where the Z-Fighters stood watching helplessly, and for a moment they ducked low in an attempt to avoid being diced up by a misguided swing of the two swordsmen as they then soared up and over the six to commence their battle in the sky. Hyperion followed through on an energy augmented slash to knock back his brother through the vicious recoil and create some distance between them. Despite the calm and heroic nature of his expression it took only one glance for the two to know that Hyperion was worried; he knew that while last time hadn't been a cakewalk by anyone's measure he'd dominated the fight throughout – this time was different. Despite his training in these last few millennia Hyperion was now being outclassed by the forces of darkness that had perverted his brother's mind and made him way stronger than he ought to be.

Hyperion suddenly raised his sword in two lightning fast slashes. Golden arcs of the purest ki exploded from each swing and crossed each other in a curved x-shape, and even as Chronus deftly evaded them Hyperion's shout of the familiar attack name couldn't help but bring a smile to Raditz's lips.

"_Divine Sickles!"_

The warrior of light could only growl in frustration as one of his signature attacks had been dodged so easily; there was no beating him at this level – he had to go all out, and Chronus would have to as well if he wanted to keep up. He could only hope that this innocent planet would hold firm in their battle. Chronus smiled in seeing that twenty metres above him, Hyperion sheathed his sword, closed his eyes and braced into a concentrating stance as his golden-white aura encircled him and suddenly flared out like petrol on a bonfire.

Muscles expanded in a dangerously high tension and ki increased at a rate faster than even Goku could take in, and to the horror of the Z-Fighters Chronus mirrored his posture and began to charge himself up. He'd been powerful enough as it was, but now his energy level climbed and climbed miles above their wildest dreams, ascending at a rate adjacent to Hyperion's using a polar opposite signal.

Chronus widened and bulked up as his skin seemed to darken and solid bones in his knuckles, knees and elbows sprouted from their joints and sharpened into weapons hard as diamonds. His sabre glowed with a black energy that pained one's eyes to look at it, and the whole planet caved in under the pressure the two put out at the same time. They remoulded the shape of this nameless world and flattened this one area they stood upon to make it look like a bean from the outside, and only then did they begin fighting.

Every blow – every swing of their impressive looking swords resulted in a flash of light blinding the entire universe and creating a destructive pressure that cratered the ground beneath them miles deep. The ruby red sandstorm whipped up and raged with a stinging sensation whilst the Z-Fighters desperately tried to escape the avalanche of it that poured in around them thanks to Hyperion and Chronus laying waste to the environment.

Back on Earth the sky lit up again and the world trembled in fear upon every strike the titans dished out. Only the retired Z-Fighters and their close relatives had even the faintest idea of what was going on, and the ungodly ki reeking out from above made the retired veterans thankful that they'd quit out before being forced to witness this battle firsthand.

Hindering armour had broken off and fallen to the ground from Hyperion's torso to display a physique chiselled from hard labour and intense training over the years. Along with Chronus, his face appeared much more angular and his muscles had expanded to the point where they were as big as could be without encumbering the two warriors as they hammered down almighty blows that shook the universe itself.

Soon they were halfway across the planet from the terrified Z-Fighters, and moments later they reappeared just a hundred metres away with Chronus materialising in a lunging swing of his blade that was barely blocked by his brother.

"_Divine Blaster!_" roared Hyperion, cocking back both hands before blasting an unstable beam of holy energy to his brother. His attack struck true, as the nature of the move seemed more effective than it should've been thanks to coming into contact with a force of darkness. But moral advantage wouldn't win this fight; to the dismay of the rugged blond warrior Chronus emerged from the misty explosion relatively unscathed, charging towards Hyperion with a malicious sneer; his sword leading the way.

Upon the impact Hyperion felt the tremendous recoil from his arms as he pushed up the tiresome claymore for a block that locked the two into place in a test of strength whilst Chronus continued his pressuring flight, pushing his brother against the wind in a show of his superior strength. He summoned even more strength to make his violet-black aura blaze further, and before Hyperion knew what had happened he felt his back slam into the surprisingly hard surface of the desert world.

Thanks to sheer willpower and tapping into dangerous reserves the God managed to maintain his concentration and keep his strength focussed on the grip of his sword to avoid being cleaved in half on the spot, as his brother's cruel sabre still inched down towards his chest at an agonisingly slow rate. Due to the higher ground the advantage was skewed in Chronus's favour. He loomed over his brother, pushing down with the gleaming sword now able to use the full strength of his enormous chest and grinning with a glaze of mania in his eyes that Vices like Primus and Decimus had inherited from him.

"How does it feel, brother? To be overpowered by me after all these years? You've grown soft! You've slacked in your training whilst I have dedicated these last millennia to it - all powered by the very goal of destroying you." stated Chronus.

Hyperion growled and his sword began to tremble under the pressure. Volumes of sweat dripped from his face and hair as he tried desperately to stay alive for what he knew would inevitably be just a few more moments. Chronus pushed down further and came closer to his mark inch by inch. He licked his lips as his eyes gleamed with an even more sadistic look of bloodlust until the curved edge of his blade slowly sunk its way half a centimetre into his brother's forehead. Hyperion roared and cried out in pain. His instinctual boost of strength reserved for near-death situations kicked in and he pushed back just a little more for a few seconds.

But life threatening reflexes couldn't save him now; Hyperion knew he was going to die here, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"_KAMEHAMEHA!_"

Chronus paused; a blast from Gohan's second Ultimate form homed towards him out of the corner of his eye, and whilst it was nothing he couldn't shrug off in this perfect form, it relieved enough pressure and provided enough of a distraction for Hyperion to bring up a single armoured leg and boot the Master away from him with a powerful step-kick to the chest.

Chronus sailed back twenty metres into the sandstorm, and much to his surprise was forced to dash away to empty space at the last moment when a Super Saiyan 4 Trunks rose up to meet him in the air with great slash of his own weapon. But the Z-Fighters' teamwork wasn't over yet. He'd moved right into the space where they'd predicted he would, and somehow a fully powered up Raditz was already upon him; fists aglow with a bright yellow ki and his aura flaring out as a five times Super Kaio-Ken.

"_DOUBLE SUNDAY!_"

Raditz himself was almost surprised when his blast struck true; acting as the largest beam he'd ever dared produce thanks to the confines of Earth constantly restricting him. He managed to get out of the blast radius just in time to avoid a frying and he never deluded himself into thinking that he'd destroyed the Master completely, but no one could take that kind of an attack at point-blank range and be completely unscathed.

He landed next to Trunks, joining the other Z-Fighters on the ground satisfied that he'd done what he could given the circumstances. A few metres away Gohan offered out a hand to Hyperion, helping the larger man to his feet.

"That'll buy us some time!" Raditz hollered over. "It's not much; maybe two minutes at best, but it's better than nothing right?"

"Got it! You okay?" Gohan nodded and switched his focus over to Hyperion, who had accepted his hand and now looked surprised at what he'd seen.

"I'm fine, thank you. You're saiyans right? I had no idea you could pack such power; I apologise for underestimating you." Even in a dizzied state of nausea with blood dripping down from a vertical cut on his forehead Hyperion still managed to be amazed at what he'd seen – the Z-Fighters had planned out their attack three moves in advance, knowing that Chronus was far more powerful and so utilising a triple bluff to get the upper hand however briefly.

"Yeah well thank us later; right now we need to find a way to beat this guy. Goku and Vegeta should be here at any moment to back us up."

"Who?" Hyperion looked confused.

"Goku and Vegeta – one's mine and Goten's father and the other is Trunks's over there. If you thought we were powerful then prepare to be surprised at what they have in store for him."

"You really think they could compete with my brother?"

Gohan considered for a moment before nodding. "Your brother's ultimate goal was to face Goku in a one on one match after seeing all the foes he's defeated over the years, and they had a close battle a week ago. Since then they've gone into training."

"What could they accomplish in a week though?" probed Hyperion.

"Hey, you'd be surprised what those two can do with just a week." Said Gohan with a laugh.

"Mortals being a match for my brother and I. . ." The man reflected. "If I had not seen your power for myself I'd be inclined not to believe you, but you say these two are even more powerful. . . These two may be the only hope the universe has. . . I'll hold him off for as long as I can, but I'm fighting a losing battle here."

"We'll help you where we can – you don't have to do this alone."

Hyperion shook his head. "You've done enough already, I'm sorry but I can't allow you to sacrifice yourselves needlessly. This isn't a fight you can keep up with; if I know Chronus he won't let his guard down again."

Just then a throaty roar boomed from the overhanging cloud of smoke as a violet black afterimage streaked down in a fit of rage at speeds incomprehensible to his chosen target. Raditz stood helpless against the rushing shadow looming over him, and only saw a terrifying view of Chronus when he was already upon him, causing his heart to lurch up into his throat as he glimpsed his end in sight. He closed his eyes and turned away in an instant reaction, but when his time came no sword pierced his gut.

Hyperion had followed the move, and instead of letting his savour be killed he dashed forwards in a display of some kind of short range instant transmission to position his own sword perfectly in a covering position over Raditz. The sabre ricocheted mercifully as Chronus bounced back up to the skies with his brother following suit.

In another show of what felt like a familiar technique to Raditz, Chronus's body suddenly morphed into a chaotic blur of high speed motion and whirled around the atmosphere, crashing into Hyperion each time with a swing of his blade to heighten the impact. Hyperion blocked each move, however poorly, and managed to dash out of his brother's immediate range with only a few scrapes before taking a few seconds to think. Chronus doubled back in a hazy whirr, utilising the signature technique that Tertius had exhibited in his battle against Raditz long ago, but this time Hyperion was ready.

"_Divine Shackles!" _he cried, as suddenly from his arms burst two snaking chains of golden light. This was a move Raditz had never seen his opponent Novus exhibit, but the similar name and ki manifestation meant it must've been in her arsenal or at least she'd have the potential to learn it, as the technique seemed incredibly powerful to him. Thanks to Chronus racing back up into battle at Tertius's hurricane-like speeds he flew straight into his brother's trap. The two chains surrounded his every limb and tightly constricted him to leave him frozen in static amidst the ruthless sandstorm and under the shadow of his approaching brother.

Hyperion seemed to know that this would be the best chance he could get, and so wasted no time in swooping down with the claymore in hand. The more Chronus struggled the more the technique worked its magic, and it was a lesson the Master didn't seem to learn so well as he writhed around under he ever tightening grip of the shackles. Hyperion neared; his mane of blonde hair blowing behind him as he brought up the claymore in a hacking fashion in an attempt to cleave the man in two.

Only then did he hit a brick wall.

Despite being chained Chronus still managed to summon up Quatrus's technique of barrier manipulation to still his brother's approach, and with a quick boost of his commander's Gravity Manipulation the shackles crumbled away from him under the pressure. Despite having no specialisations and being adept with so many moves, Chronus seemed to be able to ramp up the nearby gravity to levels far beyond that which Duodecimus could, and the only man who'd ever successfully combated the technique was still nowhere to be soon.

Hyperion swerved back into flight, but so too did Chronus, and once again the two clashed in the centre with a brilliant display of white, golden, black and violet as their respective auras flared out with each hit. Hyperion knew that being in close quarters meant that that he could only effectively utilise the skills he'd given to Seni, and so would ensure that he wouldn't be caught off guard again by underhand, forbidden techniques he'd mastered during his imprisonment.

But still, it took only a few blows to see which the superior swordsman was. Within ten moves Chronus had his brother on the back foot, leading him once again all over the planet with the strikes of his blade creating colossal storms and vibrant displays of energy across the galaxy. He sneered once more with a smirk of malevolence if only to annoy his brother further.

Frustrated and exhausted, Hyperion suddenly lashed out with an enormous strike that spent up much of his remaining energy. The move was blocked by his more powerful sibling, but the recoil managed to ricochet each to a different side of the planet and into the stratosphere as he'd predicted.

He stopped for a few moments out in the vastness of space, and even as he felt the devastating ki take off once more he knew there was nothing he could do now; no cunning plan would help him when he had no idea what new tricks Chronus had up his sleeve, and so the only thing left to do was to simply go for it and hope that his fallen brother had not become as powerful as he appeared.

With an explosion of golden-white light Hyperion set off back into the planet's atmosphere and lined himself up with the approaching ki signal of Chronus in a planet-long show of jousting. Had his magnificent aura not been shielding him the sandstorm would've cut him to ribbons at the speeds he now moved against it. For all his swiftness though, he had some inclination that Chronus must've been faster, and it was a theory he meant to test out as the two collided and he burst into a breakneck flurry of slashes.

Anyone witnessing the fight would've merely seen a blur of mixed colours and a rising current of wind kicking up around the pair. Apparently Chronus had pre-empted his brother's moves and simply decided to mirror him to put his skills to the test. Sparks of energy flew from their blades in a seemingly choreographed dance of combat; Hyperion would launch hundreds of slashes within a matter of seconds only to have them countered and thrown right back at him by his Chronus, but while he always looked completely focused and utterly serious in every second, his brother now looked neither.

Chronus was now cursed with a look of manic enjoyment; he began the short exchange just as determined looking as his brother, but when it became apparent that he'd gained the upper hand his expression warped to one of the highest amusement and sickening bloodlust. For one last moment the two exchanged eye contact for the shortest amount of time, and as if time had stopped still Hyperion slowly witnessed a wider smile spread across his brother's face before Chronus disappeared in another burst of speed.

Hyperion swung into nothingness and looked around for a few seconds to try and locate the vanishing ki signal before a fist struck him from above. He almost lost consciousness there on the spot, but somehow he managed to keep a hold of his last waking moments even as he was sent crashing right back down into the desert below. His head swam with a familiar state of dizziness and shades of black crept into the corner of his eyes despite how much he willed them to stay open, and a slight movement of his head caused the fist-shaped denture upon his crown to dominate his body with pain.

Suddenly Chronus was upon him again, and this time there would be no aid from the Z-Fighters. Before he even saw the demon approach he felt the Master's sabre being thrust all the way into his chest to snap him out of his approaching slumber. He cried out, coughing blood onto the face of his brother who now stood over him and proceeded to lick the substance from his lips just as he had done before. To enhance his pain further, Chronus pushed the broad length of the sword even further in; all the way down to the very hilt of the sabre. Hyperion cried out once more, though Chronus only savoured his pain and leaned in closer before torturously whispering in his ear.

"Say hello to Mother and Father for me." He drawled viciously.

With that, Chronus gripped the handle of his lodged sword and transferred a massive amount of power down its metallic length just as he had done to Uub, but this time it was a much more explosive ki, jolting not just his brother's body but also the rest of the planet Chronus had skewered him to. A smile in response to Hyperion's final look of fear was the only confirmation he needed, and moments later he enacted his plan, sending more energy down the shaft of the blade and right down into the planet's core, bursting this nameless world effortlessly into in a volcanic explosion, just as he'd done to his subordinates.

* * *

_Hey guys!_

_NOOO! UUB!_

_NOOOO! HYPERION!_

_After 31 chapters our resident Master has finally been given a name; all credit goes to SwordOfGeddon for coming up with it and leighk51 for giving me the genius idea of holding it off until now. Chronus is a God from Greek Mythology, and even one look at his wiki would show you countless parallels between his lore and the hazy backstory of the Master. Speaking of which; I probably won't mention it again since it's really irrelevant, but in relation to that last speech some 10 lines above, in my mind Chronus became jealous of his brother and enacted his vengeance by killing his parents and their entire family before going on a killing rampage across the galaxy until Hyperion stopped him. Naturally he lacked the conviction to kill him since. . . Well they're brothers. So instead our hero sealed him away. It'll _probably _never be brought up again after this but I just thought I'd mention it to give you guys some context._

_ I honestly never thought I'd ever get around to doing a fight between 2 OCs. It took a while since this is one of the longest chapters I've ever done AND both my e-mail and Facebook have been hacked so it took me longer (So if you get a message saying 'Hello, friend! I work for a grate electonics compny' just ignore it, I think I've sorted it now anyway.) But I'm happy with the end result at any rate.  
_

_Hyperion's probably the only guy I'm not gonna draw just because of the minor part he has, despite how awesome he is. But honestly if you want some idea what he looks like I kinda based his appearance from Seigfried from the Soul Calibur series, only I picture him to be more rugged and manly with a sword that isn't quite so ridiculously huge. As for why he has our favourite Novus's attacks - think of it this way: Chronus created the Vices right? And from what we've seen already they each inherited some kind of skill and/or personality trait from him. Since the two are brothers and he distributed himself into twelve whole parts, Novus is basically more the manifestation of whatever small part of Hyperion is present in Chronus. . . It makes sense to me okay! xD_

_Anyway. Chronus can clearly survive a sudden planetary destruction, but what has become of our Z-Fighters? Find out in the next exciting installment of Dragon Ball AF!  
_


	33. Chapter 33 Turn of the Tide

Chapter 33: Turn of the Tide

As the nameless planet's destruction filled the skies of the neighbouring cluster of planets in a fiery maelstrom raining down as Trunks tried desperately to keep a firm grip on the Echo Force that was slowly slipping from his grasp. The explosion of the planet had come like a blast from the Master himself to his hastily created barrier, sending the group flying into space like a hammered pinball. Molten droppings of lava acted as hail to the silvery dome; while they burned up upon contact with the brightened ki, the sheer torrent of flames pushed Trunks to the very limits of his strength in an attempt to deflect them all. If even one drop seeped through the thin membrane of the Echo Force the shell would break like the surface of fragile glass and they'd be exposed to not only the chaotic arrangement of flames but also the void of natural space.

Chunks of rock, many as large as small countries, fell all around them as the only remnants of the planet not completely incinerated in the explosion. Chronus's power was now the only signal left standing from their final duel, but it didn't take a genius to figure out who had won, as only Chronus would use a planet's explosion as an acceptable way to mark his victory.

Trunks's eyelids wavered and flickered only slightly, but the witnessing of the heir's lack of power prompted Raditz to place a hand on his shoulder and channel a vast amount of his own Super Saiyan strength into the man. This helped fortify the barrier and mercifully save them from the cold chill that had begun to blow in.

Somehow the noise of a man's voice seemed to drown out the roaring typhoon of fallout behind him as a hollow laugh sounded through a mist of ashen earth from the sandy remains of the desert world. Being out in the void of space, the haze quickly cleared to reveal an amused Chronus laughing in the aftermath of his own brother's destruction.

"This is where it begins." He informed them. "This will mark the first chapter in my complete reset of the universe as we all know it, to create a world that bows to my will and mine alone. I know that you saiyans grow stronger very quickly and have unlimited potential for power, so the first step in my conquest is eliminating you – it would be unwise not to."

The Z-Fighters winced and prepared for the worst as he raised a hand painfully slowly and aimed it straight for their domed vessel whereupon a sphere of malevolent ki cackled to life in the palm of his hand.

"Now who was it who had the nerve to hit me? . ." Chronus said, his serpentine whisper somehow being louder than the inferno that surrounded them.

Slowly his gaze fell to Raditz, who tensed up and prepared for the worst as a single drop of sweat streaked down from his forehead.

". . . You."

Just then the swift whooshing sound that told them all to sing and rejoice hissed behind them and marked the appearance of another fighter; two in fact. Goku and Vegeta had materialised side by side at the back end of the Echo Force, and as the others stepped aside nervously they strode forwards the head of the translucent sphere, looking readier for battle than they'd ever been before.

"What took you guys so long?" groaned Trunks through a stressed out, aching breath.

"The training was far more intense than we bargained for." informed Vegeta, turning his attention to his son and seemingly ignoring the monster that stood before them. "Thanks to fighting for four days in a row we had exhausted ourselves as close to death as our bodies would allow – a full recovery just wasn't possible in the short space of time we were given, we needed a few more hours for our minds to even allow us to wake up."

Goten shook his head in amazement. "What, so you slept through that _whole _event where he lit up the sky and shook the entire universe."

"Seems so." Vegeta grunted. He seemed to be about to elaborate when the Master finally butted in, acknowledging the new presence in the group.

"Ahh Goku, so glad you could make it. And I see you brought your pet along with you."

Vegeta snarled angrily at the comment before the Master continued.

"And what is it you want this time? You've already proved to be no fun and even less of a challenge, so if you don't mind I'll be going about my business now." He said, still charging the same ball of energy but now turning its aim to a small planet far above them.

"Things'll be different this time; you'll see. We're taking you down!" Goku claimed.

"Funny. I seem to remember your friend saying the exact same thing. . . What was his name again?"

Frantically Goku's head suddenly snapped around the different members of his group as he did a swift internal register and tried to work out who was missing. He'd known something was wrong from the moment he'd gotten there, though only now did he scold himself for not realising that Uub was missing from their numbers.

"No!" he gasped. "How could you!"

"Well, he attacked me first." muttered Chronus.

Goku's expression warped into a raging glare, conveying without words that he'd never forgive the Lord of Darkness. He began a fearsome roar and suddenly burst into a charge before he was stopped in his tracks by the only man who could follow his movements.

"Kakarot! Don't! You take one step outside this thing and it's game over for you. Remember what happened last time?" Vegeta warned as he held back the larger man. "We can't survive on his turf; we have to think of some way to take the advantage away from him."

Goku's shaking fit of rage slowly began to calm as he continued to stare down the Master with fists clenched so tight that his palms began to bleed. He hissed through a deep exhale and his gaze suddenly fell to his feet. "If we'd have just been here earlier we could've saved him!" he growled in frustration.

"No Dad, you couldn't." muttered Gohan. "They fought out here in the void of space; there was nothing any of us could do for him. He chose to do this for us and made sure none of us got hurt in the process."

"Listen to him Kakarot! If you value your friend's life you'll calm down; if we screw this up then any hope of saving this universe and reviving him goes with it, so stop being so noble and think before you make a move! You think he'd want you to go and get yourself killed for his sake? Remember we'll have no second chances this time."

Goku let out one last deep breath in an attempt to still his anger before the Master suddenly extended his palm and in one move detonated an entire world hovering above them. Unlike the last one, this planet was thriving with living creatures that were oblivious to his presence. One moment they'd been going about their lives - one of the few planets in this region not under attack by Vynuls, then the next they'd been wiped out of existence. Billions of ki signals disappeared above them like an extensive light show flickering off in a power cut as the planet erupted like the burst of an unstable volcano and was strewn out like scattered confetti across the galaxy.

"This has nothing to do with them!" cried an outraged Goku. "Let's find somewhere to fight and settle this ourselves!"

"I've played this already. I see no reason to humour you a second time." Chronus mused as he pointed a ki enflamed hand towards yet another planet.

In seeing that he was moments away from firing, the only thing left for a frustrated Goku to do was scream in desperation. "_What do we do!_"

Nothing bothered the saiyan more than being helpless in watching the suffering of others, yet even despite the reminders of Gohan and Vegeta it took every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from flying out of their ki-protected sphere and smacking the Master right in the jaw whilst his defences were lowered. He knew it would be a foolish tactic; it would only kill him and doom the entire world to its end, effectively making his act of selflessness one of selfishness. But he simply couldn't bear to stand idly by and do nothing – at this close range he had a front row seat of the multiple mass genocide committed by this horrible creature, and so with nothing else to do the only thing remaining was to ask the others.

Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, Raditz was the first to speak up.

"Get us out of here. We'll retreat back to Earth where it's safe for now and get in touch with everyone we know. There has to be _some _way we can fight him squarely!"

Without even waiting for an answer from the others Goku nodded and transmitted the group away as quickly as possible to escape hearing the energy blast fly from Chronus's palm and annihilate another innocent species. Back on Earth the explosion filled the sky with another show of frightening energy to bestow Goku with another pang of the highest guilt, though nothing quite compared to seeing the destruction so close up as he had done before.

His shaking hands quickly stilled as he noticed that he'd teleported them to the first place that had come to mind: The Lookout. After their brief encounter with the Master the hour was a more reasonable eight o'clock as opposed to the five thirty awakening they'd endured before, and being closest to the sun made the Lookout now bathed in its spring morning glow. Popo tended to the gardening at this time as per usual, making sure that the flowers looked fitting for the guardian of an entire planet.

"Oh!" he cried, rushing towards them as if he'd just remembered something. "It might not be much, but I managed to make another bottle of the elixir you used."

Goku thanked him, smiled and pocketed the multi-coloured potion that had fuelled his training, telling himself not to forget about it. "Dende? Dende!" he then hollered around.

Still not fully awake yet, Dende rushed out onto the Lookout's surface, fearing a repeat of last time when half their rank had been seriously injured. Fortunately this was not the case. Trunks suddenly powered down and shrank to the floor out of fatigue, but other than that everyone seemed okay, except for one thing.

". . . Where's Uub?" asked the namekian. The silent, remorseful silence that followed was the only explanation he needed, so when Goku finally mustered up the courage to open his mouth Dende silenced him with an understanding nod before the saiyan could utter his first word. "I see." He reflected solemnly.

Goku spoke again with renewed optimism. "Dende, I need you to get into contact with the Kais and Piccolo – if we're to make any kind of plan we'll need the Dragon Balls ready and waiting to be used."

"The last I heard, the Dragon Balls were all gathered up. I'll set up a link between us as soon as I can." Dende informed.

"Also, we need to know whether or not you have some way to ground the Master. The Dragon Balls all depend on us being able to beat this guy, but with him up in space it's kinda hard for us to fight him. Any ideas?"

Dende put a green, clawed hand to his chin and let his eyes wander to the sky as he lost himself in thought. "The only way I could think of is if you waited for him to land somewhere."

"He doesn't ever land; he just blasts planets from space like a coward." Vegeta informed. "And even if he did then he'd choose the location and probably make our arena some kind of populated town or an uninhabitable planet."

"I see, in that case I'm sorry but I'm out of ideas. I'm not sure there's any way to teleport him down onto a planet without putting yourself out in space first, and you'd be frozen and suffocate before you could even activate the instant transmission."

Vegeta cursed and Goku clenched his fists in frustration once again. As much as the Z-Fighters pondered on the subject they could see no way to get Chronus onto the ground where he could be harmed, and even if he did stop for a break the odds of the planet having a breathable atmosphere were slim at best, as out of the six in the cluster of planets they'd visited only one had the potential for human life.

"If you can't figure out a way to get him onto a planet," perked up the voice of a timidly shuffling Mr. Popo. "then why don't you try and find some way to get yourselves into space?"

"Easier said than done." muttered Trunks. But the more the idea played on their minds the more the concept appealed to them. Sure, it was a long shot, but the odds of being granted such and ability was probably a safer bet and would be far less troublesome that getting the Master down onto a planet. Perhaps the Kais had some kind of enchantment to allow them temporary access to the void of space, or perhaps Shenron could help them out. At any rate, Trunks reminded himself that the technology required for it was far beyond Earth's capabilities. . . Or was it?

Trunks's head snapped up as his eyes suddenly met his father's, and with the mirroring smile of an idea he knew that Vegeta had the exact same thought.

"Popo, you're a genius." Trunks announced.

Vegeta intervened before any had time to question him. "We'd better get going – you can fill us in on the way on what happened."

With that the two rocketed from the surface of the Lookout with the remaining Z-Fighters in tow, wondering where exactly they were headed and what plans the two had up their sleeves. As they flew, Raditz took it upon himself to explain the situation they now faced, with Gohan adding in whatever details he missed as the sky lit up on regular intervals to signal the destruction of yet another world. They described the unfortunate demise of their comrade and how he'd managed to warp them to a hospitable planet with the last of his strength. Following that, they gave an account of the mysterious figure's arrival who had finally shed some light on the true name of their opponent.

"Chronus. . ." muttered Goku reflectively.

"That's right." said Raditz. "At least now we can stop calling him the Master, especially since you guys are gonna show him who the Masters really are! Right?"

"Right!" chirped Goku, his determination restored through the encouragement of his friends. "Oh and by the way, Trunks you were great back there! What move was that? I've never seen anything like it!"

Trunks replied smugly with a grin. "Oh just something I cooked up myself." He boasted.

"Can you teach it me? It's incredible!" Goku's innocent pestering reminded the group of a child tugging his mother's arm on Christmas morning.

"Maybe some other time. You know, when the entire universe isn't in danger." He laughed.

"Of course! Yeah!" Goku reiterated, though his sudden outburst seemed almost as though he'd forgot about the threat in his excitement.

"Alright we're here." Vegeta called back as he dipped into a nosedive.

"Hey, this looks like your place Vegeta!"

"That's because it _is _my place you idiot."

"So why are we coming here?" A few moments of silence were allowed to pass before Goku made a noise of realisation in figuring out something the others had worked out minutes ago: Bulma.

If there was one person on the Earth who could help them here it would be Bulma; the woman was a genius and knew more about space than anyone else. The group landed and made their way through the front entrance. For a second the receptionist stood up in objection to their presence, but upon noticing Trunks and Vegeta heading the pack she sat back down. Luckily they didn't have to go very far; after running up a few flights of stairs the Z-Fighters had closed in on Bulma's small, but now recognisable ki signature and spied her strolling the hallways of the manor.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm in trouble?" she joked upon seeing the eight hugely toned men stood before her. "I take it by the flashes in the sky you didn't get the best of him?"

Trunks was first to speak. "Mom, we need to know quickly, is there any way you can get us into space?"

She turned to Vegeta. "Well yeah sure, isn't your spaceship still docked?"

"He'll just blast a spaceship out of the sky; we need something different." said the Prince, shaking his head bitterly.

"You mean. . ." Bulma considered the implications. "You need some way to survive in the atmosphere?"

"Exactly! Can you do it Bulma?" asked Goku.

"Well. . ." muttered the scientist as she put a thoughtful hand to her chin. "It's _possible_ I guess – if I could make some kind of invisible, portable shield then. . . Maybe. If you'd have asked me five years ago then I doubt it, but with the technology we've developed lately then it _might _work. This is all theoretical of course."

"If we're to beat this guy then we'll need something like that!"

"In that case. . ." Bulma nodded and did a final check in her mind to try and work out some kind of preliminary model before she'd even started work. "Yeah, all right. Challenge accepted!"

Vegeta nodded with a vague smile of pride – she really was brilliant; scientists even from his planet – one of the most advanced races in the galaxy, some hundreds of years passed this technology would even struggle with this work. "What do you need?"

"A few hours, two dozen employees and silence."

"Got it!" Trunks suddenly set off back down the hallway to inform the receptionist of his requirements.

"And I'll also need something small - something you can carry around and not be burdened by."

In a burst of quick thinking, Vegeta un-cuffed the small gravity booster that had been constantly strapped to his arm for the duration of their journey and handed it to the woman. They were made by Mr. Popo and Dende as they'd spent the last few years developing them as their little side-project, and thanks to the compact design they could easily be remanufactured into something else entirely.

"Perfect!" squealed Bulma, as with this tool she'd also be able to analyse a fascinating piece of machinery. "Alright, this might take a while, but give me a few hours and I'll have a pair."

"Got it."

With that, Goku removed his own gravity enhancer, followed by Gohan and Goten handing over theirs before Bulma scuttled off back down the hall to regroup with her team and get to work on designing a device that could help them save the entire universe. Still, the explosion and vanishing of a few million ki signals on the other side of space reminded Goku that with the hours they'd waste waiting around, Chronus would've ended the existence of countless races and put an end to billions – even trillions of lives. He rampaged across the cosmos destroying whole systems within minutes, and every second of it could be felt by every person with a sense of ki and seen by everyone as an explosion in the sky that disrupted the Earth with a violent tremor.

The group retired to a cosy waiting area at Capsule Corporation HQ; a small room for hanging around decorated in the minty green of a dentist's with four sofas and an armchair surrounding a single plasma television in a semi-circle. Soon every programme on every channel had been replaced by news reporters angled at shots capturing the brightly lit sky and speculating on the events. Many had brought in theorists who explained about it being a disruption of the Aurora Borealis using the Ozone Layer as a makeshift mirror, but one channel caught their attention. Hesitantly Goten lowered the remote upon seeing the onscreen image of non other than Mr. Satan being interviewed by the famous, shades wearing announcer of the World Martial Arts Tournament – a man whose name never failed to escape them. Goten remembered how despite being paid to worship Mr. Satan at every tournament, he was in fact aware that the true heroes and vanquishers of both Cell and Buu were Goku and the Z-Fighters.

_This should be interesting_. He noted.

"So, Mr. Satan, do you have any clue as to what kind of catastrophe is endangering the Earth at this moment in time?" quizzed the announcer.

"Uggh-Well of course I do!" proclaimed the champion.

A few moments of silence were allowed to pass before the announcer sighed in realising that Satan wasn't going to elaborate on the matter. "Care to explain this to the public?"

"Oh – uh – of course!" Satan fumbled around with his hands and scratched his head before resorting to the ancient excuse he'd used multiple times before. "It's all a bunch of fancy light shows and tricks, designed to scare us by this new threat that's come to our planet!"

"And what kind of threat would this be sir?"

"The aliens! They've come back upon hearing of my refined skills and threaten our entire planet! Just so they can have a go at me!" without even realising it, Mr. Satan had gotten so in character that he rose from his seated position and slowly struck into a heroic pose standing climbing atop the same couch he'd just been sat upon. "Well I'm here to tell the people of the Earth that I am here for them! I will protect this planet with my own two hands against this alien scum!"

The announcer nodded understandingly and continued. "Well what about your recent retirement sir? You didn't come back to claim the throne of the World Martial Arts Tournament this year. Many have believed this to be the end of your career. Are you saying this isn't true?"

"Whilst I may have retired from my professional occupation." Satan declared, taking the microphone from the shaded announcer despite being already wired up. "I will _never _retire from protecting the citizens of this great planet!" as he spoke the champion looked straight into the camera, showing a trademark smile of extreme confidence and a reassuring, but cheesy wink upon his roaring proclamation.

The announcer snatched back the microphone and joined Mr. Satan in his close to the camera view and began once again in a tone that seemed almost as enthused as the champion's himself."Well there you have it folks! Despite compelling evidence and numerous accounts against it, Mr. Satan has spoken! Our planet is obviously under attack by aliens, but we can all count on the veteran champion to save the day once again! Stay tuned for more coverage!"

"Turn that idiot off. Just listening to him makes me feel sick." interrupted Vegeta.

Not wishing to annoy the saiyan prince, Goten swiftly flicked the channel over to more nonsensical news reports. Still, he couldn't help but throw in a quick comment on his own opinion.

"I actually think it's kinda funny."

"The whole universe is in danger and they're making a mockery of it." remarked Tien.

Krillin interjected. "Can you really blame them? There's nothing like a good laugh or two to brighten the mood before the end. At least in my experience anyway." He laughed.

"Good point."

_Guys, guys! _suddenly came a voice. The noise reverberated around the room like a speakerphone in a cave, yet the woman at the reception failed to notice any change, meaning the sound must've been coming from inside the minds of the Z-Fighters.

_King Kai!_ Goku cried as he and Raditz leapt to their feet.

_Hey Goku. And how are you keeping?_

_This is no time for idle chat North Kai._ Scolded Kibito-Kai.

_Alright alright! I'm synchronising!_

Goku sounded even more ecstatic. _Kibito-Kai! You're here too!_

_Of course I am. We got in touch with Piccolo a few days ago and he says the Dragon Balls are all in one place, right now North Kai is connecting the whole lot of us with him and the planet's elder as we speak._ said the Supreme Kai in his softly spoken, polite voice.

_Yes, and it's pretty tricky stuff when you're trying to add more people to a conversation of ten already from different points across the galaxy._ King Kai added.

_That's great! Oh and King Kai, I never got a chance to thank you for training Raditz; he's been really great in this fight and from what I've heard the group wouldn't have survived without him._

Goku's face remained one of blissful joy as a few moments of awkward silence were allowed to pass around the room; King Kai didn't respond. Had he disconnected or something? Finally he spoke after ten second's worth of a delayed reaction.

_Raditz? What are you talking about Goku? _I never trained Raditz.

If it was awkward before, the atmosphere now thickened into a tension filled mood as all eyes fell to the long-haired saiyan now looking confused and frightened. A few pairs of hands curled into fists and his anxiety heightened for a few agonising seconds and he weakly muttered the blue man's name with an expression of disbelief.

_Nah! I'm just kidding!_ blurted King Kai before erupting into a seizure of frantic laughs. The thud of his body hitting the floor could be heard as he rolled around almost in pain from being so highly amused.

_North Kai this is serious business!_ ordered his superior.

_Ah ha- ha ha! AH HA! _Kibito-Kai you should've seen their faces! Ah haa!

Eight deep sighs of relief were collectively released around the waiting room as they allowed themselves to relax once again. Goku felt annoyed at himself for not seeing through the Kai's trickery sooner; for a moment he'd had them going that Raditz was a traitor, and with all he'd seen over the last few months the saiyan felt he should've known better.

_Ahh. Come on, I had to!_ said King Kai fairly, calming down after his enormous joke._ Anyway how are you Raditz?_

_Never better King Kai, and I'm stronger than ever thanks to Piccolo's training!_

_Don't sell yourself so short; it takes more than a teacher to make someone strong you know._ came a grizzled voice.

Over half of the people in the cramped waiting room suddenly jumped to their feet in a cry of the alien's name. _Piccolo!_

_Yeah I'm here, and I've got the Elder and the Dragon Balls here too. We need to stay in touch and figure out some kind of plan._

_Gotcha._

For the next hour or so the Z-Fighters discussed various strategies and the timing of their plan. If Chronus realised they were using the Dragon Balls as a backup plan he might blast the planet before they had time to make any wishes, but if they used them too soon then they'd be unable to save the planets destroyed after the wishes had been made. Of course it all rode on the prospect that they could get the upper hand; something that many of them doubted was possible after witnessing the murder of Hyperion. Whilst the battle had been engaging, it was clear throughout that Chronus was the stronger, and won with relative ease at his one hundred percent strength.

Despite being in constant fear of his power though, Goku simply couldn't help but feel excited at the idea of fighting Chronus again. His strength was so massive and his energy so limitless that it made his saiyan blood boil in anticipation for the battle that was about to commence. He knew that it would be the single hardest ordeal of his life and that he and others may die in the process, but to deny his own instincts would be a mistake in this fight and would put him at a disadvantage if he didn't completely immerse himself in the battle. One look at the straight-backed Vegeta and the fidgety Raditz told him that the same feeling affected the two of them as well; they just couldn't wait to experience this battle in spite of their weakness compared to him, meaning that when Bulma strolled through the opening with the two gravity enhancers sat on a silver platter the three of them were the first to jump to their feet.

Raditz however, knew that at his strength it would be unfair and stupid to insist first go at this opponent, and so humbly he backed up and let Goku and Vegeta grab a device each.

"Alright be careful with those," instructed Bulma as the pair strapped them to their wrists. "It's just a prototype, but with how urgent you guys sounded I figured you wouldn't settle for waiting longer."

Goku nodded. "Thanks Bulma, with these we should have Chronus down in no time."

"I installed a moderator cube into the core system; it generates a small field around you to regulate your temperature and oxygen levels so you can survive in space." She went on to inform them. The gadget had only barely increased in size, yet felt slightly heavier as Goku weighed his arm around.

Vegeta thumbed the device on as a ki-like sound hummed to life and he felt encased by a close, invisible barrier noticeable only to himself and those that stood within a few paces. "This is perfect." He noted in a rare compliment.

"Thanks. But like I said, be careful – Unlike Vegeta's arm those things won't be able to stand up to massive attacks, so you'll be in trouble if your enhancer gets caught in the crossfire."

"Hey, we're always careful!" cried Goku defensively.

Bulma cocked an eyebrow in recalling that everyone in the room had died at least once in their lifetime. Many had died twice, though Krillin was ever the record-holder with a grand total of four deaths in the course of his fighting career.

"We'll be on our way." Vegeta interrupted, before confidently adding: "We'll see you after we beat this creature into the ground."

"Right."

With that, Goku placed a hand on the shoulder of the saiyan prince before extending two fingers to his forehead and transmitting them to a location far out in the reaches of space.

"Good luck guys." Krillin muttered after their shadows

* * *

Tactfully, the pair had opted to approach him from afar so that they could acquaint themselves with the feeling of space on the way and catch the monster unawares if they were fast enough. Goku had warped them to a humid jungle region of the only planet inhabitable by humans among a system neighbouring the very one Chronus now laid waste to. With a brief nod to one another they took a few steps back and powered up. Hair grew longer, shifting from its original black, to gold and then back into darker black as their muscle tone grew far more defined and a layer of fur spread across their torso with new outfits accompanying them.

The Super Saiyan 5 level had proved itself to be possibly the most versatile of the forms exhibited by the saiyans so far, as along with being the most powerful it also balanced out their power perfectly and had an incredible range. Upon first attaining the level the two had considered themselves powerful enough, but over the course of their training they'd ascended to whole new heights, and yet still they felt miles away from truly mastering everything this fantastic transformation had to offer.

After messing around with the touch sensitive screen Goku also found the switch that activated the device's space-going capabilities and felt the uneasy sensation of being cloaked in the protective shield of energy. Thankfully, Bulma had designed the machine to do nothing to impair the strength of the two warriors, and the extra few pounds of weight it had gained was inconsequential and unnoticeable when compared to the thousands of tonnes the pair could lift whilst in this form.

The annihilation of another planet from afar suddenly prompted the two to set off, and so launching up into the sky the two raced at full speed through the clouds. Normally there was an invisible altitude mark embedded in the minds of the Z-Fighters that they weren't allowed to cross, and so the two were forced to fight against their natural instincts and press on into the atmosphere, hoping desperately that Bulma's devices would work. Thankfully they did, as within moments of leaving the stratosphere both Goku and Vegeta felt the significant loss of weight to signify zero gravity, yet their bodies remained perfectly intact.

"Ha! Perfect!" exclaimed Goku as he stared at his hands in wonder. "We didn't even take the gravity into account – we'll be far more powerful when our bodies are this light!"

As they flew side by side at impossible speeds Vegeta called over to his partner in reply. "Maybe, but just remember he's got far more experience in this kind of environment. We're going to have to adapt quickly if we're to get full use of the advantage."

"Right!"

The two sped along past another row of indigenous worlds as from far away they were momentarily blinded by a flash of light signifying the Master blowing another whole race into the next life. Goku winced in wondering just how busy King Yemma would be right now.

"Hate to say it Kakarot, but we can't afford to be burdened by your soft-heartedness in this fight." Put Vegeta suddenly.

"What do you mean?" was Goku's reply.

"You've seen what this freak is like and what he's capable of. If we're to beat him we can't use any less than our full strength, and we can't do that if you're holding back enough to keep him alive. If you see an opportunity to kill him you have to take it – you know as well as I do that this thing is far beyond redemption."

Goku clenched his fists and slowly grinded his teeth as he realised the prince was right; he'd thought the same thing about both Vegeta and Piccolo before, but the difference was that he at least respected them even during their fights and saw some scrap of humanity – some small redeemable features that he'd brought into full bloom during the following years. With Chronus he saw none. The Lord of darkness didn't even show him the courtesy of accepting a rematch and had continued to blast planets from space. He was evil in its purest form and far too dangerous to be left alive, whereas even a younger Vegeta would've jumped at the chance.

"I'm not happy about it, but if that's what it takes then so be it." Goku resolved.

Vegeta nodded with a look of assertion that said 'good enough' as they continued to accelerate faster into the next system. "We're coming up on him now. You remember the plan Kakarot?"

"Yeah! Full speed ahead, just get me an opening!"

The twin streaks of blue and orange light suddenly shifted their speed up another whole gear as they soared through the rubble of the last dead world in their path; its asteroid field acting as an obstacle course for them to dodge and roll away from at the higher speeds than those known to man. Far in the distance Chronus's black and purple aura could be seen, launching from it another deadly beam to incinerate another world, completely oblivious to the two approaching saiyans in his destructive state of mania.

In no time at all the two had passed through the wreckage of the world obliterated by the Master's attack and headed straight for the caped lord of evil having finally attained their maximum speeds; a rate so fast that it mildly frightened them in wondering how they'd ever slow down. Acting as the spearhead, Vegeta expended a little more energy to pull ahead as Goku reached a suitable range before charging up an enormous attack as he watched the blue firework home in on its target with all the fury of a saiyan warrior.

Vegeta's hands glowed a magnificent white in colour thanks to him pouring ki into them in a controlled and expert manner, and his entire body began to surge with the stuff as he bridged the gap between himself and Chronus, letting the fool's earlier comment fuel his rage for the creature. Chronus turned at the last moment to the approaching bullet, though realised far too late to react before a glowing white fist contrasting against the darkness of space was thrown forwards and into his jaw.

"_Royal Assault!_"

The first punch was the most severe – almost rendering the fiend unconscious in a matter of moments after a planetary system serving as its run up. That however, didn't make the following six hurt just any less. Fists aglow with an opal white ki, Vegeta slammed home his vicious new combo with each punch a planet-shattering force that rocked Chronus further into the stars, both physically and metaphorically. With a fearsome roar the Prince then rolled into his final attack coming in the form of an uppercut that knocked the decrepit creature up into the void of space and straight into the cool glow of an attack cupped in Goku's palms and ready to fire.

"_Dragon Kamehameha!_"

Like a blue stained face of the legendary Shenron, the head of an enormous dragon reared its head and overwhelmed Chronus in an explosion that probably would've damaged nearby planets had Chronus not already gotten to them. Similar to the previous moves by the Vices' creator, the attack rocked the entire universe and its presence could be witnessed as a bright flash in the sky all the way from Earth.

Their plan was simple: to finish Chronus off as quickly and effectively as possible, and with the fully powered up ultimate moves of the two fighters landing direct hits they suspected their work had paid off. A cloud of smoke columned in the void of space as Goku and Vegeta regrouped, never letting their defences down despite their apparent victory at hand.

"Did we get him!" snapped Vegeta.

"Hang on." Goku's excitement almost got the better of his senses as he scoped the swirling mist they'd created for life forms with eyes shut. Suddenly though, his pupils widened in shock; prompting both to turn back to the smoke to witness the Master's comeback. "It can't be!" he protested.

Yet it could. As the mist cleared from the explosion of the Dragon Kamehameha the monstrosity remained, floating ominously and seemingly unfazed by the move now that he had ascended to his maximum power. Despite being oblivious to the pain, Chronus's right arm and part of his body had been blown away in the explosion, but in a display of the technique he'd passed down to Septimus, his muscles quickly rewove themselves back together in a timely fashion. Whilst the number seven Vicis had managed only a few regenerations before his energy had depleted; the look of calmness now presenting itself on the Master's expression told Goku and Vegeta that if he wanted, he could do this all day.

"You really should be thanking my brother for that." taunted Chronus. "After all it was my battle with him that allowed me to re-acquaint myself with this ultimate form. Had I not become accustomed to it sooner, I would not have been able to access it in time, and would probably have perished under the force of those attacks. . ."

"Nice work Hyperion." Vegeta muttered bitterly.

". . . Which reminds me. How _did _you attain such sudden power, as well as the ability to survive out here? Not that it matters now, I'm merely curious"

Ignoring Chronus's question, Goku quickly turned to his teammate. "Plan B Vegeta?" he suggested coyly.

Vegeta shook his head. "Not yet; I want to see what this freak is made of first." He answered.

In seeing that the two had blatantly ignored his question, Chronus fell into a wide shouldered stance and readied himself for combat. Sporting a sinister grin, he whispered in his low tone, somehow loud enough for the others to hear him.

"Fine. . ."

Suddenly, Vegeta felt something crash into his stomach as Chronus had bounded forwards in his moment of distraction and launched a powerful fist to project the shorter saiyan across the void of space. Goku backed up and braced for action, finding that Chronus was upon him again in a matter of moments and forcing him into a high speed exchange of fists far too quick for him to keep up with. Being on the defensive, Goku was pressured backwards against the onslaught of punches and kicks watching out the razor sharp bones of the hardest substance protruding from the joints in his elbows and knees.

Eventually the inevitable happened, and the orange furred saiyan warrior found that in a high block he'd left himself open for a small yet potent ki blast aimed at his chest, singeing his skin and hurtling him across space along a similar trajectory to Vegeta. The two managed to steady themselves and regroup as Chronus pursued, but not before realising that they'd been blasted into the void of another planetary system adjacent to the already destroyed one they'd just inhabited.

"We can't fight him here!"

"We don't have a choice you idiot!"

As the two bickered Chronus closed in with another lunging attack towards the Prince that this time was only just managed to be avoided. The saiyan swerved his whole body to roll away, though this victory was only slight as Chronus doubled over into a fearsome kick to rocket Vegeta once again across the cosmos. In his momentary lapse of judgement Goku called after the flying, dizzied warrior, only to find that when he'd redirected his attention Chronus had warped behind him and smashed both fists into his back followed by an enormous ki blast to send him right after his downed ally.

By the time Vegeta felt an increase in gravity he had fully regained consciousness, though that didn't slow the incredible speeds he travelled at thanks to the Master's attacks. In a swift reaction the Prince tumbled and managed to land on his feet with a landing so powerful that the force of it flattened the trees for miles around him. Having been hit with far more force, his rival didn't quite manage to regain control and crashed into the ground beside him, though he'd slowed down enough to ensure the damage was far from serious.

With a dusty streak of grey staining his hair Goku emerged from the collateral of his fall and shook his shook his head to get back into focus. Chronus was approaching once again, and after only two attacks they'd seen firsthand that they didn't stand much of a chance. So bravely, Goku posited an answer once again.

"Plan B?"

The reformed saiyan shot a glare at the orange covered saviour and emitted a low growl that showed his disapproval.

"Oh come on, we're being hammered here!" Goku reasoned.

Vegeta looked bitter and upturned his chin with another grunt. "I know, but you don't have to seem so happy about it."

"It's fun!"

"It's ridiculous. . ."the Prince looked in two minds about whether or not to agree and cast an anxious look up to the sky where the ki signal of the fast approaching Master neared. "But as much as I hate to admit it, it _is_ our only choice." With that, the saiyan swished back his tail and glided three paces to his left to assume the ridiculous stance as his partner mirrored.

Up ahead Chronus closed in, entering the atmosphere of the green planet with the intention to keep flying at full speed and with one attack completely annihilate the world they stood upon. But as he came into view of the two of them he noticed something odd about the way they were positioned; side by side they stood with one leg cocked up across their hip in mirroring poses before leaning towards one another with a call that echoed up towards him.

"_FU-SION-HAAA!" _

_

* * *

__Heya guys it's me again. Sorry this one's a bit late I've been really bogged down with work lately - I've got a few weeks off from __anything major now so I'll try and finish this off in that time. After all - only two more chapters to go! :O And I know some people might take issue with this so I'll address it right away: The space gizmo thing. For me it just seemed like the more logical choice since the battles in Dragon Ball are always scaling up, especially in the later seasons where something like an ill-timed Super Saiyan fart could no doubt wipe out an entire planet. Don't worry the whole last fight isn't gonna be in some featureless, black void or anything, I just wanted a bit more diversity so expect to see zipping from exploding planet to exploding planet :D And then there's the claim of:_

_ "_It doesn't make sense! D: Bulma wouldn't be able to make something like that device!_"_

_ To which I would reply to you. . . -BITCHSLAP- Of course she would, in fact I was amazed she didn't do it in Z or GT to take the advantage away from the enemies. Think about it, when she was still a minor the girl helped her father build the freaking capsules, then in the next arc she helped restore a spaceship, and then her future counterpart BUILT A GOD DAMN TIME MACHINE. Later on she made that weird tank that actually focusses the moon's rays into a beam - she did LOADS, the girl is a prodigy._

_Vegeta's SS5 form should be up on my profile pretty soon, at least before chapter 34 is up, and on an ending note I'm gonna throw in another reccomendation which I'm obliged to do simply out of Britishness: Go and see the new Harry Potter! It is the best one yet! That is all.  
_


	34. Chapter 34 The Final Showdown

Chapter 34: The Final Showdown

As the battle overhead finally got into full swing an enormous blast of fantastic energy pulsated across the entire universe; spreading over Earth's skies as a shimmering wave of pure light that was gone no sooner than it appeared. The nameless world that stood beneath the fused fighter had been badly misshapen and flattened from one side in the overload of energy that ravaged it, yet it would see far worse. In spite of the shower of light that spewed out from all directions Chronus continued on towards the signal of energy in believing it to be just another harmless trick.

With this one attack he intended to finish off the two of them by slamming them into the planet so hard that it would blow up beneath them, and so he retracted an arm and thrust it forwards for a full power strike as he closed the gap between them. What he didn't expect however, was that his attack had in fact been blocked just as he plunged it into the light. As the bloom dimmed he slowly realised that his hand was caught with a solid grip by another – a feat that would require more strength than either of his opponents could even dream of. Finally the light dimmed as two eyes glowing a frightening colour of blue pierced through the radiance, revealing that the two saiyans had gone, and only one remained.

Despite the force of Chronus's punch flattening one half of the world they now stood on, Gogeta stood firm with the fist perfectly trapped in his own as the light faded completely to show off his features. The man's torso – bigger than that of either Goku or Vegeta, was covered in a layer of brownish, darkened, cherry autumn red like hot mulled wine, separating only to show off enlarged pectoral and abdominal muscles. He harboured both the strikes of Super Saiyan gold painting his ribs and the broad lines of a pearly white racing down either side of his stomach and up his back. At each of his shoulders two rings of orange held in place a thin black jacket draped over him, accompanying the bright blue sash and white trousers as the norm for a fused warrior whilst he wore a gravity enhancer on each wrist.

Shades of the same colour of reddish brown trimmed the borders of striking eyes of electric blue to give him all the intimidation of Vegeta and all the compassion of Goku combined. His hair had spiked into an even wilder style than before, as its bright red colouration accompanied the flame that surrounded him along with the eight thin pillars of electricity that danced in circles. Sparks of gleaming energy had generated within his aura that soared upwards along with the roaring fire as a mischievous and confident grin came to the lips of the fused saiyan warrior.

"Hi." He said.

One word was all it took for Chronus to realise with horror that the two fighters had merged, as both of their voices echoed in sync alongside one another. If that didn't prove of it, the force of his punch certainly did. With that being the extent of his introduction, Gogeta suddenly pulled back the Master's caught hand and slammed his free right fist into a punch that sent Chronus back into space with far more force than the Lord himself could muster.

Instead of pursuing the creature however, Gogeta only stood quietly for a few moments; with the intelligence of two seasoned fighters he knew he could last barely five minutes in this form – if that. But with his intellect came a cunning plan to extend that time restriction, as he realised with another smirk that one item could help him in this fight. From his pocket the saiyan suddenly retrieved a small vial of glowing, multicoloured liquid. It was the stamina potion that Popo had given Goku just a few hours ago on the Lookout – a drink that kept his energy and fatigue at a constant high for a full hour.

With this in his possession Gogeta knew that his time would be extended from five minutes to one hour. Of course the expenditure of so much power would mean that when he defused, Goku and Vegeta would individually be completely exhausted and probably unable to fight; after all, the time restriction was there for a reason. But this saiyan was not of two separate consciousnesses - he was his own being and had a mind of his own for better or for worse, and so in the interest of self-preservation Gogeta twirled the elixir around in his hand before downing it in three ravenous gulps.

"_How!_" boomed Chronus in a rage. "_How did they attain such strength! Their power is on the same level as my own!_"

"You know you really should pay more attention to the defeats of your subordinates." Gogeta had suddenly warped behind the man occupying an empty void of space, answering his question in the trademark fusion voice. "Fusion has been used to defeat two of your Vices, and yet you claimed to know about the saiyan known as Goku. You should've seen this coming."

"I knew about it – but there's no way! Even with fusion you shouldn't be able to attain such strength!"

Gogeta smiled. "Fortunately Chronus, I can."

Upon his taunting Chronus lunged forwards in a punch that would've knocked the individual fighters right out of the sky, yet Gogeta held up a steady forearm with a lightning fast block before retaliating with a hit of his own. Chronus dashed away just in time to avoid another pummelling in the face and this time opted to reappear right behind the fused saiyan with a sweeping leg kick which was smoothly dodged. From there Chronus forced Gogeta into a flurry of punches and kicks at speeds faster than either even thought they could accomplish, chasing each other around the stars in a blitz so extreme that one wrong move could spell defeat.

After a drawn out minute that felt like seconds the two rebounded with each a highly energised strike; fists met at the centre of their duel with a force so mighty that it ricocheted both of them at opposite angles around the constellation and each onto the surface of a pair of mirroring planets a whole solar system apart from each other.

"_Darkness Buster!" _

"_Big Bang Dragon Kamehameha!"_

Chronus's technique manifested itself as a cackling beam of a shadowy black light from his fingertips; contrasting against Gogeta's display of a distinct surge of overpoweringly bright blue emerging from a mystical pool of energy conjured up before him. With the beam heads colliding, the clash rocked the universe with a dramatic explosion that wiped out at least three planets in the area, and since Gogeta was far more logical than Goku he experienced little problem in doing so, knowing that they could easily be wished back with the Dragon Balls after this match was over.

Panicking slightly, Chronus summoned from the storage of his energy the sharpened black sword that often aided him in attack. He needed every advantage he could get in this battle, yet what he failed to realise was that the weapon would no doubt hinder him rather than aiding. Utilising a blade would be easily suitable for an all-out offensive strategy, though until now he and Gogeta had been even, and he'd been under the impression the saiyan hadn't even gotten into full swing yet.

A determined roar and a fast approaching ki from above suddenly told the Master that it was time to move. Launching himself up and away from the surface of the planet, Chronus barely managed to escape the howling Dragon Fist that effortlessly annihilated the world he'd just stood on. Whilst the fused fighter's back was turned he closed in through the wake of the planet's destruction for a well timed swipe aimed for Gogeta's exposed back.

With only moments to spare the saiyan disappeared in a blurred warp of immeasurable speeds; even without turning to face the villain he could somehow sense exactly where he came from amidst the fallout, and after leaving Chronus swinging a clumsy strike into nothing but air he reappeared with a lunging kick that connected with the creature's shoulder to send him flying across space. Again Gogeta never pursued him, but this time he only flew up higher a few miles out of the planet's smoky end, charging a monster attack as he tracked Chronus's plummeting figure through flaming blue eyes across the stars.

"_You're through!_" he declared, bringing the attack to full power. "_BIG BANG! DRAGON KAMEHAMEHA!_"

This time there was no retaliation beam to cancel out the outrageous blast that overwhelmed the dizzied Chronus with an enormous explosion that made the last look minuscule in comparison. Gogeta's aura hummed, aglow with the leaking energy from his body as he clenched his fists in excitement. It should've been over right there; the attack had brought another pulsation of energy over the skies of the cosmos and covered an area of empty space larger than most planets in a ferocious blue eruption, but despite being beaten Chronus's hateful form endured.

He'd been wiped away almost completely from the blast, yet his powers of regeneration had proven to be most invaluable yet again. From just a few heavily protected cells he'd reconstructed himself with little waste of energy from his own personal tank. For the first time though, the cruel hearted nemesis looked short of breath for a few moments, meaning that Gogeta's work had at least taken its toll on him. If he kept this up he estimated he could completely destroy the villain before his hour was up, but it never hurt to have a back-up plan as insurance.

_King Kai._ he relayed, with the fused tone of both Goku and Vegeta cropping up in the conjoined minds of the Z-Fighters back on Earth.

_That voice is terrifying_. Noted Krillin.

Gogeta continued. _I need you to ready the people of the North quadrant for a Spirit Bomb. If I can't beat him before then we'll have no other choice._

_Alright, alright, fine. _Replied King Kai. _I'll get in touch with the planet's guardians and tell them it's another emergency and I'll have Satan do his thing for the Planet Earth. You know it wouldn't hurt to say please for once_.

Gogeta seemed about to answer with a witty retort when the eruption of another planet halted his telepathic conversation with the Kai. For a moment he supposed Chronus had just forgotten about their battle and gone back to blasting planets, but before he could work out exactly what had happened the Master had seized control of the billions of remaining rock fragments using his own energy and hurled them in a never-ending storm towards the saiyan fighter.

To avoid being shredded into pieces by fragments of sharpened earth Gogeta instantly fell into a pattern of dodging the shards of rock at high speeds whilst moving around the entirety of the plane to avoid the larger chunks. He threw himself onto the surface a spinning lump to avoid a hail of dagger-like boulders before throwing himself onto another amidst the deadly asteroid field. From out of nowhere Chronus then emerged from behind one of the largest masses he'd seen so far, cutting through it with the blade of his signature weapon for a lunging strike whilst the tailed warrior was disorientated.

Gogeta swerved to avoid the full force of the attack, but not before receiving a surface cut that pierced his skin and forced a different shade of red to join his fur coated torso. With a backhand punch in retaliation he managed to knock his foe away and thankfully out of the asteroid field, where he could chase the fiend down onto the surface of a barren mountain world.

The two resumed fighting at high speeds as Chronus frantically tried to regain a position of power, yet with the sword in his hand and Gogeta's superior speed and power he was left merely waving it around impotently as every ten moves or so the saiyan would connect with a savage punch or a kick. Eventually the true opening came, and so ducking low under a sloppy, reacting slash Gogeta rose up with a haymaker to smash Chronus through five layers of reinforced mountains and back out into the depths of space, where he took it upon himself to warp after him and meet the demon with the two finest close-combat techniques in his arsenal.

With flaming fists of pure white ki the Royal Assault screamed a deadly combination from the fists of the adepts before ending the flourish with an explosive golden streak of the Dragon Fist. Each deliverance of the first technique struck dentures in the creature's very body, whereas the second hammered straight into his temple and flattened the side of Chronus's head with a skull crushing impact, again firing him into the depths of another star system.

The saiyan had put all the energy he could possibly contain into that attack, trying to kill the very consciousness of their nightmarish enemy with blows so powerful that they made his own body tingly in the aftermath. Sure enough though, Chronus's regeneration pulled through again. In mere seconds he'd gone from having a flattened head and a broken neck to being back on top-notch form with not a scratch on him.

"This guy is really starting to annoy me." growled Gogeta.

Chronus smiled with the sick and twisted look of a man who'd committed every taboo crime known to man; however his sniggering was cut short as he felt the pure wrath of a frustrated saiyan power towards him for another pummelling. For the following minutes Gogeta went all out, hammering the sadistic immortal across the galaxy through and darting between exploding worlds as Chronus tried feebly to retaliate. Six times in total did Gogeta obliterate the man, though despite his best efforts the Master only ever came back again and again with a more insatiable appetite for battle as the saiyan's hour began to run out.

After three of the new kamehameha waves, a Dragon Fist technique, a collision course with an exploding planet and a punch _through _his chest Chronus still stood, and every now and again he'd land an attack on poor Gogeta that simply would not heal itself. After a well timed slam onto a desolate looking planet the saiyan communicated telepathically with the Kai, noticing from his well developed internal body clock that he had only around five minutes of time remaining.

_King Kai, are we ready?_ He asked.

_Well naturally I can't get every planet to give up their energy voluntarily, but everything's pretty much in place. Whatever energy you can't accept as an offering I'm afraid you'll just have to siphon it from the other planets against their will. At least you have Earth on your side. _

_Right, thanks_. Having much previous experience as one of his fusees, Gogeta could gauge precisely how much energy he could take from someone without killing or seriously injuring someone, and this delicacy would be needed if he was to create a bomb from an entire quadrant of the universe. Without a second to waste the blend of two saiyans raised his hands high above his head and closed his eyes in a bid to suddenly capture a vast amount of power that the people had bestowed unto him.

His last attack would buy him around two minutes of time, yet with the amount of energy he'd harvested in the amount of seconds combined with the massive injection of his own energy, it should've been enough. Very soon the blue orb of unfathomable energy formed an enormous ball over his head, brimming with life and growing at a rate so alarming that it took every ounce of Gogeta's strength to keep it under control.

_I have to make this count_. He noted as Chronus began to reassemble some three planets away. _The amount of power I've used means that after my time is up, Goku and Vegeta will be almost dead at the separation – neither will be able to fight for long afterwards. . . Guess I'll just have to make sure there's no one left TO fight. _

With Mr. Satan's motivational speeches rallying the people of the earth, another wave of energy bigger than any he'd received from any single planet joined the mass of the ever-budding Spirit Bomb. He drew energy from the soil of hundreds of worlds; from the plants and the animals and the indigenous races that inhabited them. What little some planets had to offer was subsidised by the thriving metropolises of the others, and with the constant influx of energy the systems came together to form one massive attack.

The Spirit Bomb became suddenly coated with a wrapping of red, convulsing energy accompanied by flashing sparkles similar to his aura. Gogeta's own power had been sent right into the bomb, and with it, the technique had transformed itself into the fusion warrior's own signature variant. Shades of the brightest blue swum through the crimson tint of the bomb's striking finish as even more power was sucked from the surface of stars and moons to engorge it even further.

Yet for all its power, the Spirit Bomb still was not ready.

By the time Chronus's speeding form came blazing over the rise of a nearing planet the attack still just about lacked the power needed to destroy him utterly, and whilst in such a vulnerable position Gogeta braced himself for the worst. He wouldn't mind taking a beating, but one momentary lapse in concentration could easily cause him to lose complete control over the attack due to the enormous amount of energy he now contained. Beads of sweat poured from his spiked locks of and through tightly shut eyes of the brightest glowing blue in an attempt to keep focus and maintain his drawing of energy, yet even with eyes closed he still could sense the shadowy purple and black of Chronus's dark energy nearing with every passing moment.

He felt Chronus's signal fluctuate with a sense of fear upon him noticing the enormous ball that now filled the empty void of space above where Gogeta stood charging energy, and then confusion upon wondering how exactly the saiyan had summoned up so much power in such a short space of time. He felt the threat of the ball and charged faster forwards in a rage, coming within blasting range and quickly closing the gap.

Suddenly though, Gogeta's hands buzzed with a powerful ki as the Spirit Bomb finalised itself. He compressed the energy into a tightly packed, yet still enormous attack and established a firm grip.

_At this range if I throw it I'll be caught in the blast myself! _He noted as Chronus closed in. The two exchanged eye contact as Gogeta struggled to make a quick decision – this would be his last chance to finish this battle whilst he could, but he'd probably catch part of the explosion as well. Regardless, if he delayed a second longer then Chronus would be close enough to kill the saiyan anyway, so only one course of action was really possible.

_Goku, Vegeta, this is gonna hurt_.

With that thought Gogeta launched the attack, closing his eyes and steeling himself for the pain that was to come.

"_GALACTIC SPIRIT BOMB!"_

The energy of thousands of planets careered forwards with a rush that created hurricane-like winds to uproot trees and create massive waves across the entire galaxy. A tremor shook the planet Earth and all its neighbours as the sky became filled with a red and blue contrasting aurora, along with a blinding eruption that filled the emptiness of the void-space the two titans duelled on.

Chronus's cry of pain rang clear, but so too did Gogeta's. Instead of being caught slap bang in the centre like his enemy though, the saiyan was mercifully sent hurtling leagues across the stars from the explosion, unconscious and unresponsive until the stamina elixir finally wore off and the one warrior became two.

In that moment, both Goku and Vegeta _wished _they remained unconscious.

In the world of pain their bodies now suffered however, the two were robbed of the sleep they deserved with an aching sensation filling their bodies that felt worse than death itself. The pain that went with moving only a single joint snapped them both wide awake, right before they came crashing through the undergrowth of a barren forest moon, now brown and crisp in the wake of the Galactic Spirit Bomb. The light of the explosion still filled the sky, and only truly began to dim after the two took five minutes to fully recuperate.

Through labouring pants the two laughed. In spite of being on the verge of death, the two had succeeded – they'd ridden the cosmos of its greatest threat to date and lived to tell the tale. A wordless understanding formed between the two of them as laughs turned into triumphant grins and the pair took to the skies simply to get a confirmation on their victory.

They'd been thrown far in the explosion, and thanks to being reduced to their most basic forms the two glided slowly between planets, spending the first five minutes in silence until Goku decided to speak.

"Using that potion to sustain himself – he's pretty clever that Gogeta isn't he?"

Vegeta only made an irritable sound of disapproval. Even after witnessing the ultimate power Gogeta wielded he was still hesitant to say anything nice about fusion, seeing a mere compliment as a sign of him giving up. Even with that aside, he found it hard to appreciate Gogeta's actions when they'd been left in such a terrible state because of him.

_Goku! Goku! Did'ya get him?_ Quizzed King Kai.

_Yeah how'd it go guys? We felt that Spirit Bomb from all the way over here. _Krillin asked.

Goku laughed. _Complete success! You should've been there, it was incredible! We're just checking out the site now, but we can't feel a single thing left – that's usually a good sign._

_Well alright guys. We've sent Raditz and Gohan ahead to pick you up; make sure you make it home safe okay?_

_Sure thing, thanks Krillin_.

Goku ended the conversation with a laugh as the pair pulled in towards a misty white haze serving as the aftermath to Gogeta's 'Galactic Spirit Bomb'. The entire place – any cells that had existed in this part of space had been obliterated completely, meaning that any and every thing caught in full force of the explosion stood no chance of survival, including Chronus himself.

And yet. . .

"Kakarot! What's that over there?"

Goku whirled around with a rise of heart-stopping fear; even as Vegeta spoke he noticed the flash of a tiny ki signal appear in his scopes, and following Vegeta's gaze he saw that a small bundle of multiplying, black cells no bigger than his fist had formed against the opal fog.

"Blast it!" cried Vegeta suddenly.

Without even needing the Prince's command the pair of saiyans took it upon themselves to bombard the tiny, growing mass with blast after blast of brightly coloured ki spheres in rapid succession. Lacking the energy to barely fly let alone power up further, the two were left tossing orbs that were merely a fraction of what they could accomplish, but with the small object they figured it should've been enough. With a final heave of effort the duo finished off their attack, charging each a final beam into the ever growing cloud of smoke.

The hearts of the two saiyans momentarily stopped as the mist began to clear ahead of them; if Chronus had actually managed to survive it would've been game over for the universe – both were utterly spent and with no other way to defend themselves the cosmos would be defenceless against the Master's onslaught. By rights, karma should've been on their side, yet after all they'd accomplished the deliciously evil sound of the fiend's laughter rang clear and true through the fog before it cleared to reveal him back to his fullest strength.

No; after scoping him out in fear, Goku realised that he was actually a little _stronger _than before - perhaps even strong enough to hold his own against Gogeta for a while.

"No! It's not possible!" spat Vegeta in irritation. "_No one _could've survived that Spirit Bomb!"

Chronus went on with his chuckle of amusement for a few long, agonising seconds before finally smiling and replying. "I must admit you gave me quite a scare there – I surprise myself with how powerful I've become." He revealed. "Just a little more energy and you might've killed me after all." Chronus's smile widened into a repulsive smirk as he continued. "But you'll have to do better than that to get rid of _me_. At any rate it's over for you now – you've no more fusion to rely on, you're completely drained and _I _am more powerful than ever."

Goku's fist clenched as he fought back tears of frustration "Darn it! We were so close too! I'm sorry Vegeta."

"Don't be sorry you idiot! Think of something! Can't you teleport us out of here?"

Goku shook his head weakly and responded. "I've got no energy left, and even if I did it would be pointless – that Spirit Bomb was our last shot and we blew it!"

"-Though I do wonder." Chronus added, interrupting the shared argument of the saiyans. "That fighter. . . He launched that attack with no concern for the planets he destroyed in the aftermath. . . Even your saiyan Prince wouldn't do something like that without some kind of insurance, but the Dragon Balls of your planet are gone – I saw the event for myself. . . Unless."

The Master's gaze wandered off to his left as he pondered what kind of plan exactly the Z-Fighters had up their sleeves. The cogs of his mind then clicked into place and Goku's heart stopped once again; his eyes widening in fear.

"The Dragon Balls of Planet Namek still exist don't they? That's your plan isn't it; your way to restore the universe to its original state. How touching. . . They pose no threat to me right now, but it never hurts to be cautious – I know those artefacts can do extraordinary things. . . So if I aim over here. . ."

"_NO!_"

Goku's outburst of desperation told Chronus that his assumptions were right as his smile widened and his open palm lit up with energy, aimed right for New Planet Namek. Before the orange clad saiyan could intercept his attack the Master fired off the beam, sending a darkened wave of energy spiralling through half a dozen planetary systems towards the peaceful world.

_Piccolo! The Dragon Balls! Use them now!_ Goku roared down the telepathic system.

Down on New Planet Namek, Piccolo heard the cry of his oldest friend and focused his attention to the sky, where he witnessed with horror that a raw blast of ki began to fill the sky and darken the forever daytime planet as it neared ever closer. He knew that if they tried to summon the Dragon like this then the planet would be destroyed before they could make even the first wish. Only one option made sense for the logical mind of the namekian, one that he didn't like at all.

"Moori! Summon the Dragon!" he barked over to the planet's elder before switching seamlessly into the mental link. _King Kai, add Moori to the conversation! Hurry! _With that, the caped warrior set off at the highest speeds he could manage towards the violet ki attack as the children watched him in awe from below. He soared right up through the clouds and into the suffocating chill of the stratosphere of his planet. He carried on climbing until he reached the barrier where he could go no further; if he continued he'd choke and freeze up completely, as even at his current altitude a strain began to overcome his body.

_Piccolo! What are you doing?_ Called Goku, sensing that the green man had left the surface of the planet.

_Whatever I can._ Piccolo replied. _I'm sorry Goku but this is the only way_. With a heart weighted with lead the namekian sighed and slowly removed the heavy turban and cape that had become synonymous with him over the years, allowing him to power up to the very pinnacle of his impressive power scale.

Piccolo braced himself and threw out his arms like a footballer defending his line, surfacing new determination for his cause upon merely thinking about all the people counting on him, not to mention all the namekian children who had come to idolise him. He couldn't let them down – he wouldn't. _Alright big guy. _He thought, steeling himself. _Let's see what you've got._

With that thought acting as his weapon, the blackened violet ki attack struck Piccolo like a hammer blow to the chest as he screamed out in a possessed fury. His resolve was concrete; he would _not _let this attack pass him – he was Namek's representative and defender – even if his body would be blown into pieces, he'd hold it together for as long as it took for it to wear down. But even Piccolo knew his limits; he knew that he couldn't just rely on his own body to protect the universe – if he failed then nothing would between the planet Namek and total destruction, and so he contacted the elder before it was too late.

_Moori! Have you summoned the Dragon yet?_

_Yes Piccolo! Porunga awaits our command! But what is happening up there? Are you alright? _Moori replied.

_It doesn't matter – there's no time for that! ARGHH!_ More of the dark light poured into the shielding warrior to make him scream out in pain once more. Every fibre of his being cried out to him, telling him to give up and die as he struggled to contain the blast. But still Piccolo persevered. _Tell the Dragon to undo ALL the damage Chronus and his Vynuls have brought to the universe_.

Moori protested, concerned for their fighter's well-being. _But Piccolo! Wha-_

_DO IT! _He roared.

After shaking himself off Moori relayed the instructions to the mighty Dragon as in his mind the considerate voices of the Z-Fighters asked what exactly was happening whilst Goku cried out in grief.

_Piccolo! You don't have to do this! _

_Urggh! _Piccolo's mental screams grew louder as the dark attack completely ravaged his entire frame. Small bursts of violet energy pattered in explosive waves at his every limb and the beam itself tried like a deadly, repelling magnet to push him back towards the surface of the planet. But still he did not move. _Never mind about me!_ He gasped. _Moori! Is it done?_

Had his energy not been completely focused on containing Chronus's attack Piccolo would've noticed that just a few moments ago billions of life forms suddenly reappeared across the universe as the Dragon's eyes glowed and entire planets rose from the ashes.

_Yes Piccolo, the Dragon has granted our wish! _Informed Moori.

_Good, now we need to get rid of his Vynuls so that it's just you guys out there._ Piccolo managed, his voice now barely above a restricted growl.

_But how Piccolo? _Enquired the Supreme Kai; joining in the conversation with a confused and sympathetic voice. _The Dragon Balls cannot vanquish a being that their creator could not defeat themselves – it's beyond their power!_

_I know! _barked Piccolo. _But just listen – Argh-ugh! . . Chronus's power would no doubt exempt him from this, but the Dragon Balls can transport beings. _Piccolo paused to catch his breath between three laboured pants before unveiling his master plan._ So have Porunga warp every last Vynul right back to that dimension they came from!_

_Piccolo! You're a genius! _Exclaimed the Supreme Kai. Even with all his wisdom the overseer of the universe himself had not thought of such a brilliant strategy. In the realm of darkness the Vynuls would be trapped once again and unable to return now that Chronus had destroyed the Room of Spirit and Time.

_Just do it! Hurry!_

Where more powerful fighters may have long given up, Piccolo still endured the full impact of Chronus's dark attack as his body served as a blockade, eclipsing the dark light of the beam and casting a shadow over the entirety of New Planet Namek. He pushed himself far beyond the limits of what he could normally handle as the voice of the Elder echoed around the ground. Within moments a wave of energy signals were put in motion; this time instead of arriving though, the evil ki signatures of the Vynuls suddenly disappeared back to the realm from which they came, leaving the universe with only one more wish left at its disposal.

Wishing Chronus back there would be a waste of a wish; he was far too powerful to be affected by something like the Dragon's energy against his will, meaning that instead of trying to end the battle right there they'd have to take a gamble. Right now their only hopes rested on the shoulders of the two saiyans fighting side by side in space; the two saiyans who'd been completely drained of their power from their last failed attempt. Piccolo gritted his teeth and growled out another sentence under the strain of the blast, feeling it slowly begin to overwhelm him.

_For the last wish, restore power to Goku and Vegeta! _He instructed carefully.

_No Piccolo! _Insisted Goku. _We have to get you out of there! Elder! Use the last wish to save Piccolo's life!_

_Don't be a fool Goku! _Piccolo roared. _What good will I do in a fight like this? Hate to say it but I'd just be in the way! - If we waste this last wish then we stand NO chance of winning! Moori! Do as I say!_

Distraught, the planet's guardian hopelessly pleaded. _But Great Piccolo!-_

_-Do it before it's too late!_

Hesitantly the Elder relayed Piccolo's orders as Goku protested up in the void of space, in no position to do anything to save him. Even Chronus stared off in the direction of planet Namek, surprised that it hadn't yet blown under the formidable energy of his blast. A fantastic renewal of ki and a rush like a thousand caffeine pills that should've elated Goku completely served only to bring a tear to his eye. The last wish had been used, and with Piccolo's life force disappearing he knew there was nothing he could do. He could use the Instant Transmission to get there, but what option did he have? If he detonated the blast prematurely he'd kill the namekian on the spot, and if he warped Piccolo away the beam would simply continue and take Planet Namek with it into oblivion, something he knew Piccolo would never forgive him for.

"Elder, the Dragon Balls!" cried a villager. As Porunga shrunk and descended back down into the mystical spheres the Dragon Balls glowed more brightly than ever; almost bursting with golden energy they radiated a white hot light to give them the appearance of volatile bombs about to go off. Was this the event Piccolo had warned them of? Had they overused the Dragon Balls?

They glowed even brighter and shrieked a high-pitched whistle as their intensity exceeded that of the bright eclipse covering the sky in Piccolo's struggle, and the Elder's heart skipped a beat. Brighter they shone with a blinding light until the surrounding namekians thought them about to explode, yet after a prolonged and tense moment the glowing finally ceased. The Dragon Balls rocketed into the sky, and with his gaze following them Moori once again saw Piccolo and diverted his attention back to their saviour.

Piccolo struggled and bellowed out in pain as the burning, eviscerating sensation of taking the energy head-on rose to its fullest peak as parts of his tough skin began to tear away in numerous shreds along with his clothing. He knew now that his job was done; he could let go and simply allow the blast to overpower him and put him out of his misery with no real consequence to the universe as a whole, yet if he did that Planet Namek would be blown to pieces. It mattered little in their grand plan – the Dragon Balls had already been used and so he'd played his part, but seeing the carefree and joyous expressions of the younglings that constantly idolised him made Piccolo cling onto his life in desperation.

"_You won't get past me!" _he screamed. No one would hear him up in the stratosphere; it was more to reinforce himself than actually communicating with anyone, as somehow speaking his mind reminded him of old times and renewed his vigour even further. Goku wouldn't give up, neither would his faithful student Gohan – hell, Vegeta would've done the same thing for his own damn planet given the chance. He _wouldn't _give in; he _couldn't _let them down; whilst there was breath left in his body Piccolo would not give up leave Planet Namek to its doom.

With his final war cry drowning out the crashing volume of Chronus's blast and tearing through the clouds Piccolo summoned up the last of his strength and unleashed a power that gave up his every last scrap of energy and converted it into a weapon. He detonated the blast, sending a powerful shockwave crashing through the sky and kicking up titanic waves across the waters of Planet Namek. Even as the Z-Fighters wailed after him down their telepathic links they knew it was too late; his ki signal disappeared from this world, and with his last breath he'd martyred himself and saved the home planet he never got to call home.

_Piccolo!_

Ascending back into the Super Saiyan 5, Goku shook himself and rushed forwards out of pure rage, connecting a devastating haymaker to the distracted jaw of his wicked opponent. Vegeta bounded forwards to aid him, knowing that they still stood no chance but seeing no other alternative. After an initial upper hand Chronus ducked away from every punch that a furious Goku threw his way and kicked Vegeta aside every time he made for a flanking assault. With his ultimate form in play there was little the two saiyans could do against a being so powerful; he had won, and by the look on his face he knew it was so. The only thing that remained was for the pair to give it everything they had despite knowing it wouldn't be enough.

Goku sprung forwards with a streak of orange energy flaring behind him as he powered into an overhand punch, putting all his weight behind the single shot. Chronus ducked with apparently only moderate difficult before landing a gut-crushing kick to the saiyan's stomach. He doubled over and fell into a drifting freefall in the vacuum of space, unable to move and struggling, though moments later a second knee drove into his temple and knocked him spinning across the void.

Thanks to recovering from the verge of death both Goku and Vegeta had experienced a slight power increase to boost their chances, although Chronus's own improvement more than compensated for the shift. Somehow he'd grown more powerful in recovering from the Spirit Bomb, and his increase in strength became apparent when he appeared from seemingly nowhere, blasted Vegeta in the chest and swung him after Goku where he could easily envelop both of them with an impressive blast; the same he'd been using to destroy planets.

Charred and nauseous, the two saiyans tore through a planet's atmosphere as orange and blue twin meteors until they hit the surface moments later. Being enveloped in arctic water far below zero degrees served to snap Goku out of his dizziness. He shook himself from the freezing chill and flared out his aura to warm himself before flying up and onto land where Vegeta joined him moments later. The ground at their feet was comprised of pure ice as the two noticed that they stood atop a floating iceberg lazily drifting along a current that ran across this entire planet.

The life forms of a few hundred animals populated the white planet, now recovering their strength from the unexpected Spirit Bomb. Suddenly though, Chronus appeared overhead as a violet comet homing towards them, causing both Goku and Vegeta to launch off the ground in opposite directions before he crashed into the iceberg with a punch that sent the ocean's water spraying up to unnatural heights. As he doubled back into space and prepared a blast Goku was suddenly intercepted; he weaved away from three consecutive jets of light from the planet's surface before backing up into Chronus teleporting behind him.

He'd suspected earlier that the demon had some kind of short range variant of the Instant Transmission – well now Goku had seen it firsthand. He spun around to face his opponent, narrowly missing a massive fist coming his way and dodging straight into a kick hammering onto his thigh. For a crippling second Goku dropped out of stance in agony and readied himself for a following attack from Chronus, yet it never came.

"_Royal Assault!_"

Pouring in more power than he should, Vegeta raced out from behind a nearby moon and landed his Super Saiyan 5 combination with perfect timing. Eight punches fuelled by a blinding ki knocked the Master about with saiyan fury before the Prince made way for an attack of Goku's own.

"_Kamehameha!"_

Thanks to their perfect timing the battle really should've ended right there. Chronus was enveloped by the beam of purest light as it drove him into a neighbouring moon and set him alight. The harsh explosion made both saiyans put a shielding arm to their eyes to cover themselves from the its intensity, though each knew that it was far from over – they'd bought themselves a minute at best.

"Kakarot if you've been saving any new moves now would be the time to use them." voiced the Prince.

Goku shrugged and shook his head. "I'm sorry but I don't; it took me months to finalise the Dragon Kamehameha and that doesn't seem to be enough even as Gogeta. . . We couldn't save Piccolo after all."

"Now's not the time Kakarot; he did his duty and he went out there willing to give up his life to save our necks. You should honour his sacrifice by staying alive – we need to think of something."

"I know, I know." reflected Goku. "We could try fusing again?" he suggested.

Vegeta shook his head, although this time not out of pride and arrogance. "There wouldn't be any point. After seeing what we did last time I doubt he'd let it happen again. At any rate we couldn't finish him with an hour and if we did it now we'd get about five minutes – we didn't get re-energised just to burn it all up for nothing."

"So what do we do? I take it you don't have any new moves?"

Vegeta considered for a few moments before shaking his head. "None that I could land. . . _Argh!_ He's too fast and too strong for us to get anywhere near him!"

"So what do we do!" Goku repeated.

"I've an idea." Whispered a voice. Chronus glided casually out of the smoke as his disassembled and exposed face finished weaving itself back together. "You could always just. . . Die."

Goku growled in irritation, though his fearless reply was only met with another attack. Chronus disappeared from their field of view, and in a move that only Goku saw brought his fist into a wide hook. Through tact, luck and experience, this time Goku followed the move. Vegeta turned to only see his partner's left arm snap up in a defending pose as the Master's hand connected, but the place it made impact with made his heart suddenly lurch out of position.

System failure, system failure, system failure.

A feminine, robotic voice hummed through a tiny speaker Bulma had implanted on the side of Goku's gravity controller/space incubator, becoming slower and fainter by the second. Goku had blocked the punch instinctively, holding up his left arm that contained the device allowing him to fight out here as Chronus's overpowered fist smashed the screen and flattened the device against his forearm, sending a shower of sparks into the void.

"Kakarot!" cried Vegeta.

Goku staggered as Chronus followed through on his attack with a blow to the jaw, oblivious to the real damage he'd caused. Using all of his speed Vegeta rushed to the saiyan's side as Goku ceased breathing and gasped for air without the use of the device to sustain him out in space. Vegeta grabbed his arm quickly, letting Goku use the Instant Transmission to swiftly teleport them away.

The saiyans landed amidst a sprawling canyon similar to the ones they had one earth. Vegeta took note of their surroundings, whilst Goku on the other hand had dropped to one knee and struggled to regain his breath. The now useless gravity enhancer beeped its final warning alarm and finally died completely from the force of the blow; if he'd been out there a moment longer Goku's body would've frozen up and failed on him instantly – he could no longer fight out in the vacuum of space.

After a few moments Goku's heavy panting began to slow and eventually turned to an amused chuckle as he rolled over to a sitting position upon one of the many rocks populating this region.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you sounded worried about me back there Vegeta." He laughed. Even in spite of the situation he still found an excuse to poke fun of the ever-serious saiyan prince.

Vegeta snarled in apparent disgust. "Sometimes I think you just hear what you want to hear Kakarot. . . Where did you bring us anyway?"

Goku looked around and shrugged with a dopy expression before continuing. "I dunno – I brought us to the biggest planet I could find. If we're grounded then we may as well have somewhere Chronus can't just destroy with a swat of his hand, I mean, use your senses and check this place out – it's enormous!"

Vegeta did as he was told and within an instant realised that he was right. This planet – whatever it was called, was well over twenty times the size of Earth, and to add to Kakarot's usual strategy there were no creatures or real species aside from a handful of different lizards, meaning he could fight all out without fear of hurting others.

"I see you managed something resembling intelligence for once. Good work." Vegeta remarked, taking his revenge for the saiyan's previous comment.

Goku only sported a look of mock-offence.

"Anyway, how long until he gets here?" said Vegeta.

"Three minutes maybe – he's not exactly going to let us go after seeing what we did to him, we just need to think up of some kind of plan."

But try as they might the two saiyans still couldn't think of any kind of decent plan against the tyrant. Fusion was off the table thanks to it being far too risky and draining them of their power, and since neither had any suitable tricks left they remained purely hopeless. Within a couple of minutes the now-familiar stream of darkened violet energy could be seen growing high up, contrasting against this planet's yellow sky. As it grew closer though, the two realised that he was in fact decelerating; he slowed down to an eventual stop before starting a massive charge of energy. The two gasped in disbelief.

"_What? _You mean he thinks he can destroy this thing in one blow? What a coward!" Goku noted.

"Stay here!" ordered Vegeta. "I'll get up there and stop him." The Prince took off from the ground before he was stopped dead in his tracks by the earthling saiyan gripping his ankle.

"No! There's no point; he'll finish it before you can get there – you'd be flying straight into it!"

Normally Vegeta would've kicked the man away and went ahead with his plan anyway, but giving him the benefit of the doubt the saiyan used his senses in an attempt to calculate Chronus's rate of intake against his own top speed. Kakarot was right; there was nothing they could do to stop that blast from going off.

He landed with a grunt of annoyance. "So what do we do?"

"We should stay down here and try to deflect it for ourselves – if we do that we might be able to lure him down onto the surface."

"But he's ch-" Vegeta began, though his obvious protesting was cut off by purple arcs of lightning filling the sky as the being overhead glowed and prepared his attack in a voice that somehow projected itself down onto planet.

"_DARKNESS!"_

The first word of Chronus's attack prompted the saiyans to shift back into wide, fully powered up stances as they prepared themselves to repel the biggest attack each of them had ever faced before. The sky became blanketed in a shadowy embrace, as though the demon's mere presence brought with it a horror so unimaginable that the planet itself feared him.

"Well if you're sure about this Kakarot. . ." muttered Vegeta.

The light no doubt emitting from Chronus's palms grew darker, yet somehow radiated more of the same light as its fullest strength was brought to fruition. The attack's intensity pained the eyes of the saiyans to look directly at it, but they'd need maximum focus on their target if they were to knock it aside successfully.

"Here it comes." Goku whispered.

"_BUSTER!"_

Chronus's beam let fly, erupting from his hands with a force so mighty that the entire planet trembled in an earthquake that almost made the two saiyans lose composure. Like a diving bird of prey the blast pelted down to Earth at speeds barely comprehensible to the saiyans, though out of sheer terror they saw the events as though in slow motion. As the attack entered the world's atmosphere they became suspended in almost total darkness as a planet-wide blackout ensued. Tiny rays of light from the close by sun barely managed to provide enough to see whilst arcs of the most vivid purple thunder cracked the sky above. Igniting their fists with a powerful, repellent ki, the saiyans prepared to use up what would inevitably be a vast portion of their energy - if they managed to succeed at all.

"_SUPER KAIO-KEN!"_

_What!_ Goku looked around – for a moment he thought he'd dreamed Raditz's voice echoing around the canyon and coming from no discernable direction, but Vegeta had heard it too. Glowing a ferocious red, the saiyan streaked over them from seemingly nowhere and hovered twenty feet above, charging his energy and preparing himself to take the attack head-on.

"_TIMES!"_

"_Raditz, no!_" cried Goku

"Come down from there you idiot!" Vegeta supported.

As a Super Saiyan 4, Raditz's regular power was from enough to deflect an attack of such magnitude, but his plan was now painfully obvious. With the glorious Super Kaio-Ken at his disposal Raditz could momentarily push his power up to beyond its natural limits – beyond even Goku and Vegeta's strength if he so wished. But it came at a price; he'd take the blast at full force, and that, coupled with the strain on his body the technique exhibited, meant he'd never make it out alive. But it was too late to do anything now. Even as Goku started up after his brother he knew he'd reach him too late to save him. Raditz had made his choice.

"_TEN!_"

Raditz's aura flared out to heights never seen before by the two saiyans right as the blast careered down from above and struck him square in the chest. A flash of the darkest light and the planet's quaking rumble accentuated the attack, but thanks to being at a state so powerful for just a mere moment Raditz managed to contain the attack. He fell slowly to the ground from above, lacking the energy to even cry out from having his body completely destroyed. Every bone in his skeletal had caved in under the pressure; he thought the last time with Novus had been bad, but just then he'd used up _twice _that amount of power.

"Raditz!" Goku rushed to his side suddenly, cradling his brother's form in his arms as the saiyan winced from barely moving. He surveyed the damage and instantly realised to his horror that the reformed saiyan was far from healable. "Why?" he asked.

It was a simple question; one which brought a faint smile and a croaky laugh to Raditz's lips before he slowly answered. "Your face. . ." he mumbled, whispering to save what fragments of fleeting energy he had remaining. "When King Kai made his little joke. . . Somewhere inside, you still don't trust me – how could you? None of them do. . ."

"Raditz, that's not true!"

"Of course it is. . ." Raditz tilted his head to one side as a single tear flowed from the corner of his eye. He winced in pain, trying to force a smile with the last scraps of energy he had. He was content with death – this was how it had to be for him to feel completely at ease with himself; one final act of redemption to wipe the slate clean. "Well now you know. . ."

Using a broken and already failing arm Raditz pulled on a torn muscle in his shoulder to raise up a shaky hand and clasp it firmly on Goku's shoulder, gripping a hold of soft orange fur. "I'm sorry. . ." he concluded.

Raditz let out a final exhale before drifting off into what could've been a peaceful sleep as the grip on Goku's shoulder loosened and fell limply to his side. His body began to disappear and made its way into the afterlife and eternal peace.

Vegeta bowed his head solemnly and placed a fist to his chest; a sign of respect reserved for people only of his royal stature and something the Prince should never display to a lower class saiyan. Goku on the other hand clenched his fists and got to his feet as Chronus landed smoothly some twenty paces ahead of them. He vowed to enact vengeance for the loss of his brother and so began on a barely composed stride towards his opponent.

"Kakarot."

Vegeta once again placed a hand in front of the grieving saiyan. He handled his words with care, as for this rare occasion he felt true sympathy for the man stood across from him.

"If you attack now you'll die. That's not what he gave his life for. We've got him down on the planet now – the advantage belongs to us."

Goku breathed heavily for a few moments and turned to the saiyan Prince, never truly meeting his eyes but keeping them to the floor in a stupor of depression. "But what can we do?" He asked. "Even the Spirit Bomb failed."

"Make another." Said Vegeta.

"Huh?" Finally Goku looked up into the glowing eyes of aquamarine belonging to the blue furred Super Saiyan 5 stood across from him. For a moment he thought Vegeta sounded hopeful.

"That's right – this time we'll get the entire universe involved; if we stake everything on this last attack we might just have enough energy to beat him."

"But Vegeta how? He's right there, how am I supposed to gather up all that energy with him so close?"

Wordlessly Vegeta turned and took a single step forwards to put him directly across from Chronus. He met those hateful, malicious eyes and matched the demon's sneer with a proud smirk of his own. After cracking his knuckles and clicking his neck to limber himself up the Prince finally replied with every confidence needed to assure both he and Kakarot that this was a good idea.

"Leave him to me."

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_Sorry folks, it just had to happen, hopefully I handled it well. So yeah this was the longest chapter so far and in my opinion the best. The last one probably won't be quite as long but still pretty hefty. This was actually meant to be up a whole week ago but I went to Leeds for the weekend. I thought I could finish it before I left - I was wrong. And yeah upon returning after three nights of awesomeness I was thrown into 2 assignments and 1 exam before I'd even sobered up. Oh well, it's here now, and I make it my solemn vow that the FINAL CHAPTER will be up either on Christmas eve or Christmas day, preferably Christmas Eve - I know you guys probably have better things to do on Christmas day that read some dude's fan fiction (But I don't! XD)_

_Like I promised SS5 Vegeta is up on my profile so go check it out if you get the chance - only as usual stuff went wrong. It was on multiple pages like the other one but when scanning it cut off like a few centimetres, so if I put them together he looks like an angry midget :S It also stretched upwards and when I tried to resize it the picture went all pixellated :S So to make things easier I just uploaded the main bulk of it, like the main part I did with the Goku one - it's still a bit stretched but it looks alright I guess, I'm surprised I've never seen a similar design before, blue is SO Vegeta's colour. _

_Oh and by the way, about the last chapter - I FULLY APOLOGISE - it was confusing as hell with the telepathic mind-talk thing. See what I usually do for the telepathic conversations is place them inside the more than and less than arrows that should be three and four spaces left of your right shift key (If any of you ever read Animorphs as a kid you'll know EXACTLY what I'm talking about). BUT ff . net for some reason deems them inappropriate and DELETES them making my conversations look fucking IDIOTIC! WHY? I've fixed them now by changing them to itallics, but regardless I've still probably lost a dozen readers from those god-awful conversations. Again, greatest apologies.  
_

_So, we've got two good guys dead in this chapter and another chapter to go._

_How about another two?  
_


	35. Chapter 35a Last Sunset Part I

_Alright Guys quick announcement here. Although I originally said that the last chapter would be a little shorter, I got carried away in pursuit of perfection. Chapter 34 was over 9'000 (no joke intended xD) words – Chapter 35 is over 10'000. As such I decided to split it into two parts to make it more manageable, but don't worry, both are up! Enjoy. . ._

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Chapter 35a: Last Sunset – Part I

"Vegeta, are you sure about this?" Goku asked.

Vegeta said nothing for a while; he only continued to stare across the nondescript flat of land to meet the eyes of his foe, gauging his strength and trying to calculate whether or not he was actually up for this. He'd experienced this before; the same kind of dilemma had stricken them in their fight against the Majin, only this enemy was more powerful – _far _more powerful. Then again, so was he.

"You just concentrate on making that Spirit Bomb as big as you can Kakarot. I'm ready to give up my life to buy you time, but I won't give it up for nothing, you hear?"

Goku recoiled slightly upon hearing the extent of Vegeta's resolve, though finally he nodded before taking his stance.

Chronus laughed. "You think I don't see your plan? You think I'll let him make another one of those attacks?"

"The way I see it Chronus-" Vegeta began to stride forwards with a confident, taunting grin. "You'll never be able to stop him, because you'll have to get past me first. _I _am the Prince of _all _Saiyans; the honour of being Kakarot's opponent belongs to _me _alone."

Chronus allowed himself a smile of amusement, closing his eyes and turning his face down in a momentary lapse of concentration.

"_Wrong move Chronus!_"

The hiss of Vegeta's energy tracing behind him could be heard as he threw himself at full speed towards his target. Chronus looked up and straight into the sights of an oncoming fist. The Prince's attack hit nothing but air though, as the lord had warped away at the last moment with Vegeta realising all too late that he was right behind him.

"Super Bladed Thunder." Chronus said plainly.

Vegeta turned, noticing first of all that the Master had the sword in his hand once again, right before an arc of crashing black lightning jumped from the blade's tip and struck him with a direct hit. His body went into complete seizure from the voltage of over a thousand electric chairs, sending his muscles into chaotic spasms and his bones into charred sticks. Trunks had always wondered what would've happened if that attack had hit him during his fight with Seni, and with his father's screams of pain now echoing through his mind he felt he had some idea at last.

Vegeta dropped involuntarily the moment the technique ceased; his legs felt too shaky to contain him and his mind began rattling away, struggling to regain focus.

"Now. . ." Chronus turned to Goku, still amassing energy from the entire cosmos after charging for only a few seconds. He walked slowly and menacingly over to the determined saiyan, savouring that look of brave resolution as a facade for the terror he felt within. "That was over quickly wasn't it?"

"_Guess again!_"

"What?" This time it was Chronus's turn to be caught off guard. As he turned back to where he'd felled the blue saiyan Vegeta was already back on his feet, seemingly unharmed by the last attack and rushing towards him with renewed fury. A heavy, metal capped boot was then brought up from the leg of the Super Saiyan 5, knocking Chronus some two hundred metres across the canyon with a mouthfull of his own teeth.

Vegeta landed and took just a few moments to catch his breath.

"Vegeta! You okay?" Goku called over, having finished contacting the numerous Kais.

"I can do this all day just make the damn bomb!" chastised the Prince. Chronus's energy surged as he blasted away the rock formation he'd been kicked into as Vegeta rushed to meet him, taking their battleground away from Goku's delicate workplace.

Casting aside all distractions, Goku became completely lost in thought, so much so that he completely forgot where exactly his physical body stood. All sounds were blocked out and his eyes were shut, visualising the life force of the plants and animals he drew energy from across the galaxies. His entire consciousness was devoted to making this work; for once he took Vegeta's advice and ignored all his doubts and worries, placing absolute faith in his friend to be able to hold off Chronus for as long as it took for him to finish making it.

Even despite being drained already, the people of the Earth contributed as much as they could upon their champ's wilful command. Mr. Satan himself was so devoted that he almost lost consciousness from donating his energy, but Goku was determined to put it to good use. Goten, Trunks, Krillin, Tien, and every fighter retired or otherwise gave huge quantities of ki to make the bomb formidable already.

Vegeta's head bobbed back, leaning away from a punch aimed at his face before a second fist came from his side and slammed into his temple. But Chronus wasn't done there. Using his oddly elongated arms the Master painfully grabbed hold of Vegeta's cobalt blue tail and held him upside down before him, like a hunter curiously inspecting their kill. Before Vegeta could even struggle a fist was forced into his gut compelling a measurement of blood to spill from his lips and cascade across his nose and hair. Again and again Chronus drove his fist into the Prince's stomach, but still Vegeta remained conscious for another ten strikes before closing his eyes eventually.

After another two punches for good measure Chronus observed Vegeta's unresponsive face carefully. He held the saiyan up to his face to inspect him more thoroughly, gauging whether or not he was dead or merely unconscious. Unfortunately, neither was the case.

Vegeta suddenly spat out a sea of blood to shower Chronus's face, using the demon's inevitable recoil as a chance to let fly a close range blast and free himself from his grasp. Without a moment to spare he charged into a perfectly timed combination safely drawn out to give him a chance to back up in the aftermath. Naturally Chronus remained relatively unfazed; Vegeta's last attack drove him back a few metres, but in no time at all the fiend's broken nose and dented cheekbone rebuilt themselves anew.

Against his better judgement Vegeta snarled in anger and attacked again. He was supposed to be buying time, but the fury Chronus instilled in him made sure that the Prince was completely provoked and dedicated to wiping that smug grin from the Master's sneering face. He engaged Chronus in a trade of high speed punches so fast that their fading afterimages constantly made it seem as though he threw five in a single moment, yet despite his speed Chronus wove in and out of each one, merely studying the saiyan until his time arrived to hold out a single blocking arm.

Vegeta's fist rebounded painfully from reinforced bone as Chronus retaliated. Five powerful hooks fell in consecutive blows one at a time before the Prince managed to retreat to a safe distance, taking much longer than usual to regain his stance after taking such a beating. Chronus once again sported a grin of the most evil malevolence before taunting the saiyan further.

"Didn't I beat you already? I'm surprised you even had the courage to show your face here again."

"One time was enough Chronus! You may have beaten me before, but one thing you should've learned from your predecessors is that not finishing a saiyan off is the worst mistake you can make!"

Chronus allowed himself a laugh, once again utilising a calm and polite manner of speech. "Well I'd better get to work then hadn't I?"

Even before he finished his sentence the Master had already begun to surge a massive amount of destructive ki into both hands that hissed with the same cackling of black thunder that had been aimed at this very planet before killing Raditz instead. Vegeta made another sound of irritation; a throaty growl emitting from the back of his throat that conveyed a mere fraction of his true anger. He bounded forwards in a determined leap to interrupt Chronus before the attack was done, though his flight was cut short by an arm as thick as an Earth-dwelling tree sprouted from the fiend's chest and intercepted his flight with a massive fist catching him off guard.

It occurred to Vegeta that Chronus had used the ability he'd bestowed to Octavius as he spun uncontrollably through the air, but even worse was the attack he charged up now; the technique that _none _of his Vices had managed to learn; the blast that had ended the life of Raditz.

_Move! _He told his body, trying desperately to regain control as he spun like a bundle of coat-hangers in a dryer. _Get out of the way!_

"_DARKNESS BUSTER!"_

Right as he felt sensitivity return to his limbs Vegeta was suddenly overwhelmed by the black jet of light embedded with streaks of the darkest violet, designed to tear his body to shreds and obliterate everything that stood in its path. The sky became shrouded with storm clouds once again upon the technique's presence and its sheer intensity created a phenomenal explosion, sending a charred and no doubt dead or dying Vegeta headlong into one of the farthest canyons away from them. Smoke billowed from the cavernous tomb as Goku's concentration faltered. His consciousness returned to his physical form in witnessing the bleak wreckage right behind a slowly descending Chronus, his cape fluttering in the wind behind him.

"_Vegeta!_" Goku bellowed. The Spirit Bomb ceased growing in the saiyan's moment of distraction. Vegeta's power had dropped off his scopes and from the smirk upon Chronus's coloured lips his suspicions seemed to be confirmed. The sound of the demon's steel boots slowly padding towards him filled Goku with the inevitable terror that went with being on the verge of death. Anxiously he checked the progress of the Spirit Bomb.

_No good! At this level he could swat it away with one hand!_

"I must admit your friend there gave me more trouble than I bargained for." Confessed the Master, closing the gap between the two titans with every passing step. "But unless you have another ally of that level waiting in the wings your end is at hand. Even both of our brothers never stood a chance and your saiyan Prince leaves for the afterlife as we speak."

Agonising moments of silence passed between the two of them. Without any reply available Goku could only close his eyes and concentrate on not letting his emotions get the better of him; whatever happened he couldn't let go of that Spirit Bomb, but without anyone to protect him what good was it now?

"_Wrong!_" came a voice.

With a look of bitter resentment and the utmost horror Chronus turned to his right, and Goku his left. Some twenty yards away Vegeta staggered through a drifting haze of smoke and soot, favouring his right leg and gripping his shoulder to stop blood from escaping. Not that it seemed to do any good; across his mass of midnight blue fur clots of red decorated him as battle wounds from the previous attack. His black pants were torn in gashing strikes across both sides of his legs and a bleeding graze trickled from a spot near his left temple, but regardless, Vegeta was still alive, and better still, maintaining the Super Saiyan 5.

"How?" demanded Chronus. For the first time he looked truly angered; stricken with fury at this pesky thorn in his side. "How did you survive that?"

"What?" Vegeta gasped, forcing himself upright. "You think something like _that _would stop me? You think you can fight _me_ like I'm some kind of annoyance? I said I'd stop you and I will! That's all there is to it! . ." Vegeta took a minute to catch his breath before sporting a look of ferocious rage despite his critical condition. "So tell me Chronus: _Is that all you've got?"_

With a roar of anger Chronus suddenly blasted off from the ground in a lunge straight towards the royal saiyan. It was clear that despite his boasts Vegeta couldn't hang on much longer, yet the pest's reluctance to die coupled with the audacity with which Vegeta addressed him shattered the beast's collected composure. Goku shut his eyes and braced himself for the worst, and in his hyped up state of aggression Vegeta welcomed the rushing death that charged towards him. Chronus closed in with a leading overhand punch filled with all of his power and hatred, threatening to crush the Prince where he stood until a familiar voice rung through the air.

"_You're open!_"

As a streaming ray of hope a Kai-clad saiyan swooped down from above and intercepted the looming Chronus with a crushing kick to the jaw merely a fraction of a second before his fist made contact with Vegeta.

"_KAAA!_-" The fighter hovered in midair, charging up a ball of the most vivid blue.

"_MAYY!_-" The ball swelled suddenly as light poured out from all directions.

"_HAAA_-" Chronus looked up as he sailed through the air; his new opponent had caught him off guard, and now he'd follow through on his attack.

"_MAAYYY!_-" The saiyan traced his eyes after the soaring form of the enemy he'd gotten the drop on, finalising the attack as the tiny sphere inflated to the size of a large beach ball.

"_HAAAAAA!_" Like a bright blue cannon the Kamehameha blasted away from the fighter's palms to engulf the vulnerable Chronus, kicking up endless seas of crumbling pebbles as it rocketed across the planet.

The Prince had been lucky; in his fatigue he'd been wide open – that attack would've no doubt knocked him unconscious or even killed him if it struck true, but he'd been bailed out of trouble at the last moment by the black haired warrior that now landed before him, turning around and revealing his identity.

"Gohan! What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay away!" said Goku.

"Shut up Kakarot!" Vegeta ordered. "Just focus on the bomb already – I'll handle this." With that, the Prince turned back to the son of his rival, stood confidently and ready to fight after his initial lucky shot.

"I know what you're gonna say Vegeta and forget it." Said Gohan. "I'm not going anywhere, so if you want me to leave then you'll have to drag me away, and something tells me you don't have enough time to do that."

Vegeta growled and looked back to Goku. In placing trust in him to get Gohan out alive, the saiyan had gone back into his trance-like state, focusing everything he had on creating one enormous blast. But if their places had been exchanged then the outcome would be no different; there was nothing either of them could do to get rid of Gohan. He'd come prepared to fight.

"You'd better not get in my way." Warned Vegeta, reluctantly giving in. "And I can't fight at full strength if I'm trying to cover you."

"Don't worry, I might not be on the same level as you guys, but I _have _gotten stronger since my last fight."

Suddenly the ground erupted like a flaming hot geyser of steam from the raw power of Chronus's energy ripping apart his rocky grave. Back to his fullest strength in no time at all, the tyrant now sported a manic, crazed look in his eye; the kind they'd glimpsed from some of his creations – a sign of him losing it completely. Fighters that utilised their anger in battle came in two kinds: the kind who attacked in a blind rage to only weaken their style and the kind who focused their aggression to enhance their power. Vegeta figured that Chronus, like himself, was the latter type.

From a well of his own energy Chronus summoned once again the curved, jagged blade that he'd utilised against both Hyperion and Gogeta. It was a weapon for all out offence – abandoning all protection and dedicating every move to destroying the opponent.

"_Super_ _Bladed Thunder!_"

"Move!"

Gohan didn't need Vegeta's order. In perfect tandem the two saiyans launched themselves away in opposite directions before the serrated arc of lightning carved up the spot they'd been stood upon a moment ago.

"_Whip of Torment!_"

After he glimpsed Unidecimus's ability being conjured within Chronus's free hand Vegeta instantly felt a slashing sensation like barbed wire lash across his ankle and tie around it, trapping him in midflight before he could retreat any further. He felt his ankle join the long list of bleeding body parts as he was jerked downwards straight towards the other arm containing the fiend's handy blade.

Vegeta twisted his body just in time to avoid being mowed in half by the sword, but at the speed at which he'd been pulled to the floor the saiyan still crashed into the rocks at the Master's feet. He rolled away just in time to avoid his skull being crushed under the weight of Chronus's boots twice before Gohan mercifully intervened. He charged the armed demon and forced him into a complex blitz far too simple to hit Chronus, though it diverted enough of his attention away for Vegeta to kick himself free of the green whip's snare.

Within seconds Vegeta was back on his feet right on cue to push Gohan away in sensing that Chronus was about to go back on the offensive. Sure enough, the caped lord retaliated with a vertical swing of his energy-coated sword just as the Prince blocked the way. Using Super Saiyan 5 speed Vegeta tilted his entire body to the right to avoid the move, but Chronus wasn't finished by a long way. He copied Gohan's technique of completely bombarding his foe at high speeds, slashing away at Vegeta as the saiyan pushed his body to its very limits in order to avoid the barrage of slashes. What hits he couldn't dodge completely Vegeta had to suffer as surface cuts shredding away at his chest and arms, resulting in more than a few drops of blood hitting the ground and staining Chronus's edge before the onslaught was over.

"Vegeta!"

Gohan launched himself into the fray again, skimming his heavy kick across Chronus's chest and marking him slightly before the deity managed to block completely. Using his moment of distraction Vegeta once again mounted an offensive. With Gohan at his side the pair quickly fell into a pattern of flooding attacks at their swiftest speeds in synchronism at the steady Master. Even despite having eight limbs flying at him in surprisingly excellent teamwork Chronus still weaved in and out of each punch and kick flying his way before resorting to blocks as the onslaught grew more rapid.

With Vegeta stepping well-practiced footwork across the uneven terrain Gohan mounted his attack elevated almost two metres in the air at an angle slightly different to the Prince's to avoid kicking him in the head. Looping kicks and overhand, rolling punches rained down from above, and before long Vegeta seemed to break through Chronus's impenetrable guard. Ducking under a lazy parry, the Prince arched his fist up and over the sword, swinging it in a hammer-like motion towards his unguarded opponent.

Using godlike reflexes, Chronus saw the error of his ways and suddenly backed off with a gliding dash backwards across the canyon floor, escaping from the attacks of the two some fifteen metres away and baiting them to come closer now that he'd regained composure and gotten within an ideal range.

Unfortunately, one of them did.

"He's mine!"

With his adrenaline fuelled to an intoxicating buzz and a mind eager to prove itself Gohan rushed forwards. He saw the opening in Chronus's defence, with the event never occurring to him as a trap or a feint to gain his impatient attack.

"Gohan get back!" called Vegeta.

But it was already too late. Gohan closed in on his target with a charged up fist of energy swinging into sudden nothingness. Chronus had teleported away from his attack, and with a whispering, mocking laugh breathing down his neck the saiyan hybrid knew he'd made one of the biggest mistakes of his fighting career; the kind that didn't go unpunished. As he moved to turn upon instinct the sharp pain of Chronus's blade stabbing through the lower region of his back and piercing right out from an odd point in his stomach drowned out every other sense and took over his body.

"Gohan!" In a hasty assault Vegeta raced after the son of his rival, closing in quickly on the turned back of the demon Chronus.

"Gravity Manipulation."

Under the surprising increase a thousandfold in the density of his immediate environment Vegeta slowed considerably; his bones caved in more than they had already and the wounds covering his body set ablaze with a pain he'd rather not remember. But he knew he'd beaten this technique before; this attack could be conquered through sheer willpower, and yet before he summoned up the resolve to push past it Chronus had turned on him yet again.

Without the chance to move Vegeta felt the razor-sharp blade rip through his skin in a critical slash dragging down from his clavicle by his right shoulder to the already damaged left side of his abdomen. His eyes widened in fear, spying Chronus's look of sadistic satisfaction as his limited pints of blood spilled from the deep cut across his body and onto his nemesis. Thanks to the gravity bolstering his weight the saiyan dropped with an almighty crash; his head smashed up the floor upon its inevitable impact with the ground to finalise his defeat.

Through the bleary eyed nausea Vegeta tried to ignore the pain, and for a moment he heard Gohan not two paces away cough up a mouthful of blood. Good – he was still alive after all, but for how long he wondered. Chronus had downed them both and with more pain than he'd ever experienced before restricting his ability to move Vegeta could only watch as Chronus's armoured boot by his head shifted its position slightly, turning to him with the intent to curb-stomp his skull into oblivion before suddenly jerking to the right and falling back into a wide combat stance.

"_Divine Shackles!_"

Vegeta was unsure of what happened next. One moment Chronus's boots had been firmly posed in from of him and the next they'd been hurled off their feet the sound of a cry and an energy blast, both only muffled background noise to his ears. A few moments later a second pair of feet crunched the ground next to him, and after twenty more seconds he was suddenly rolled onto his back, facing up and looking into a blurred source of blinding light. His chest began to tighten as his sight along with the rest of his senses eventually returned to him. Painfully he sat up, stretching out the restricted wound on his chest and looking around for Chronus. The fiend lay struggling some fifty metres away, tied together by golden chains of a heavenly ki.

"Hyperion!" came Gohan's pained reply.

Vegeta turned to his saviour coming in the form of a heavily armoured man of large stature. Blond hair flowed down from his unprotected head, dyed red at its shoulder-length tips from the blood that had no doubt come from the great stab wound thrust through his chest.

"Try not to talk Gohan – I've stopped the bleeding but you won't be able to fight anymore, not in that condition." He said.

"You don't look so good yourself." Vegeta remarked upon noticing the crippling wound piercing the warrior's body. "I'm take it you're Hyperion."

"Your suspicions are correct great saiyan. I cannot hold my body together for much longer, but with my own powers I've managed to keep myself alive and manage your own injuries too – that wound may be serious, but it's no longer life threatening."

Vegeta made a groaning sound of irritated agony as he willed himself back onto his feet. "Good enough." He muttered.

Hyperion smiled to himself and carried on his grand speech in spite of his injuries. "Then what the others told me is true; if I hadn't seen it for my own eyes I wouldn't believe it, but you saiyans really are in a whole other league: You'll continue to fight even like that?"

"Of course!" Vegeta spat, as if offended by the very suggestion of giving up. "This is _nothing_!"

Hyperion looked off into the distance, smiling vaguely as if he'd seen some glimmer of hope somewhere on the horizon of this nameless world. Whilst this man may have embodied few traits of a hero, Hyperion knew that there was no better he'd ever met, and this Goku character promised to be even more noble. "I should go." He said, struggling to stand. "Gohan, Vegeta. . . Hopefully I'll see you in the next life someday."

* * *

Goku's mind now travelled to vast recesses of the universe, scouring the cosmos for the tiny signs of life that he could draw from amidst the teeming vastness of the stars. He focused in on them, drew power and diverted it to the sphere above him now filling the sky despite him still believing it to be far less than adequate. He concentrated on the plants and the animals; the water from rivers and the flame from the thousands of suns in the galaxies, drawing them all towards him until a sudden spike of energy caught his attention close by. In fact it was _really_ close by – so close in fact that it was within his immediate range. Such was his sudden panic that Goku suddenly forced open his eyes to see an armoured man with long blond hair standing before him with a single hand raised and touching the surface of the Spirit Bomb.

He almost lost his hold on the bomb upon his surprise, and his confusion was enhanced further when he saw that the man ignored him despite it being painfully obvious that Goku had noticed his presence.

"Hey! What're you doing?"

Wordlessly answering his question, Hyperion's palm, pressed flatly against the surface of the Spirit Bomb, began to glow as he deconstructed his own body into the same energy that constantly streamed into Goku's attack. He stared back at the saiyan struggling before him.

"I know who you are Goku, and from just one look in your eyes I can see that you truly do deserve the title of the universe's protector." He said at last.

"What?" muttered Goku in disbelief. "What do you mean? Stop before you get yourself killed!" more than anything the saiyan wanted to reach out and push this mysterious stranger away from his attack before he gave up the entirety of his life force, but one simple twitch in the wrong direction and he could lose everything he'd built up so far.

"It's alright – nothing can be done to save me now, just don't waste the energy I have remaining."

After the brief conversation and nonexistent introduction Hyperion smiled and closed his eyes, appearing calmly relaxed despite the systematic deconstruction of his body into raw energy. His hand and arm disintegrated into spiralling pockets of ki with the rest of his torso following shortly afterwards. Soon his entire right side had been converted, but he still smiled even as what remained of him evaporated. Every colour of the spectrum glowed from the warrior's fleeting soul in a blooming display, and with the man's noble sacrifice the Spirit Bomb grew even larger.

Fighting away the brewing lump in his throat Goku suddenly noticed the vast magnitude of energy that surrounded the bomb he'd produced, and he dove into complete concentration in order to seize every last molecule of it. The Spirit Bomb then inflated again like the gushing press of a football pump swelling it up, multiplying its power and boosting him ever closer to his goal of matching Chronus's energy signal.

"How touching. . ." mused that same chilling voice that had haunted Goku's nightmares ever since he'd first heard it. After apparently breaking through whatever spell had restricted him Chronus was back on his feet, gliding ominously towards the orange saiyan with his right hand aglow with untamed ki. "Even until the end my brother was a coward. He attacked whilst my back was turned and sacrificed himself before I had a chance to strike back."

Goku gritted his teeth with a contained rumble upon the Master's berating of the man's noble sacrifice, and finally the cogs turned in his head. The man had been Chronus's brother – the one who Gohan and the others had told them about before. His donation with his own life to the Spirit Bomb had given the attack a much needed boost, though even as its size meant that the ball could be seen as a massive blue spot from orbit, it still wasn't quite ready to challenge the monster standing before him.

Chronus unloaded the small but potent ki sphere in his hand, with the small blast itself burning against the saiyan's chest in a miniature explosion and a puff of smoke. He wouldn't make the same mistakes as before; with the size of the Spirit Bomb now passing for a small moon he had to finish this with quickly – playtime was over. Without hesitation the monster summoned up another of the same sphere in each hand and proceeded to blast away with thousands of the tiny flashes raining down like flaming hail upon Goku's vulnerable body. Explosions like giant bee stings pelted the exposed saiyan, but as long as he held on he knew the universe still stood a chance. He persevered through thousands of the darkened bolts until Chronus mercifully stopped to survey the damage.

He breathed heavily; head lolled downwards as vast measurements of sweat dripped from his hair and body. His chest bled profusely and small chunks of his fur covered skin had been ripped off in the maelstrom as his hands stayed raised high up in the air, shaking now under the pressure as though he held up an entire planet with the strength of his arms alone.

"Impressive. You saiyans just don't die do you?" Chronus started, all the while beginning the charge of his terrifying signature attack. "Well we'll soon put an end to that. . . Darkn-"

The roar of a man possessed suddenly drowned out the Master's speech as a flash of blue came racing over the nearest rise of rocky earth. Chronus snarled and turned his aim to the saiyan gnat that refused to die, though Vegeta was upon him already and interrupting his most powerful attack with a well timed haymaker to the jaw. . .

* * *

.

* * *

_Alright folks, if you're ready then read on, but you might want to take this opportunity to go for a break; get some coffee and some sugary confectionary, because shit's about to blow up :D_


	36. Chapter 35b Last Sunset Part II

Chapter 35b: Last Sunset - Part II

Chronus recoiled and lost control of the powerful blast brewing in his palms, but he never went down, and the flying saiyan had only restored his anger to its fullest capacity. He retaliated, slamming the saiyan with a fist that Vegeta felt through to his spine before whirling around and carrying on his assault with ten more punches to the man's already bruised face. Each one felt like it would crush Vegeta's skull or take his head clean off before the next one knocked him the other way. As the Prince went down he genuinely wondered if any brain damage had occurred, spinning in and out of consciousness for a few prolonged moments before his determined mind finally settled on a decision.

Chronus had turned back to Goku, convinced now that he'd managed to shut up the annoying blue monkey for good. He'd made the mistake before, and each time he'd been proven wrong by Vegeta's unwavering spirit. This time would be no different.

"Leaving already?" rasped the taunting voice.

After managing only a few steps away from the fallen saiyan Chronus turned back around; Vegeta had rolled over onto his back, leaving a pool of blood behind him in the process of staggering back onto one knee. Chronus snarled and slipped back into rage. "_Why won't you just die?_" he demanded. "_What are you?_"

The Prince growled in annoyance. "I'm a saiyan you pitiful bastard – the most powerful race in the universe!" He got back to his feet with his shoulders still hunched and one eye still lazily hanging shut. Despite his condition the man carried on his speech, talking to and reassuring himself just as much as he was Chronus. "And I swear, before this fight is over you'll see what we can do!"

Chronus's wordless reply of a shocked and infuriated growl only bolstered Vegeta's ego further. Being on the verge of death didn't faze him at all – that sheer horrifying determination had shown its face that never failed to frighten even the most powerful of foes.

"What's the matter? Getting scared Chronus? That bomb should be ready any second now and I don't think you can hold me off for long enough to do a damn thing about it!"

Chronus roared in a frenzied bloodlust as he set off towards his foe, lumbering like a charging bull towards the unguarded and open saiyan stood half-dead before him. Before he could reach his target however, Vegeta dashed smoothly out of the way and retaliated with a fierce kick propelling the Master up into the skies above the canyon. In thinking the saiyan all but defeated Chronus had attacked lazily; a mistake never missed when presented to a veteran like Vegeta.

He chased the Master into the skies, landing at least half a dozen quick attacks and a finalising blast before Chronus managed to get back in position. Even upon steadying himself the Master found himself suddenly swarmed by a cluster of attacks that he had to retreat further to avoid before finding himself somehow on the back foot and being chased all the way around the huge perimeter of the Spirit Bomb and high into the sky above. Vegeta roared and let fly a string of his best combinations, though upon finishing them without a single hit he found himself once again with no options against the behemoth now back on equal footing.

He tried hopelessly to dash out of the line of fire as quickly as possible, but instead found himself barely ducking under a punch and retaliating with one of his own before Chronus warped behind him, just as he'd done to Gohan. Instead of being stabbed through the back though, the Prince suffered a more prolonged and drawn out method of torture. Grabbing the Prince's left hand hung loosely by his side and twisting it around so that he could grab the thrown punch as well, Chronus managed to quickly reverse Vegeta into a restricting submission with both his arms straight out behind his back and pushing inwards towards one another with a ripping sensation terrorising his shoulder muscles.

In this position the Prince was powerless to do anything; he kicked out with his back foot to try and smash the demon's shin, though moving his leg a mere twitch resulted in his arms being thrust closer together, squeezing out his muscles and pushing his chest unnaturally outwards with an intense pain accompanied by a sadistic laugh in his ear. Below him the Spirit Bomb convulsed and grew even larger as the attack begun to take shape, though even Chronus knew that at this range Goku wouldn't dare throw it even if it was ready.

Chronus pushed the saiyan's arms closer together, resulting in two sickening clicks of unhinging joints as Vegeta's shoulders dislocated right out of their sockets. The Prince let out a scream of pain that could be heard by both Goku down on the planet and only made Chronus push harder. If the backs of his shoulder blades got any closer together his arms would be torn completely from his body, though even in knowing this there was nothing Vegeta could do; he moved his leg again resulting in a twinge of stabbing pain.

"Ah. . . I remember now." Whispered Chronus. "You lost this part of your arm didn't you?"

Vegeta's eyes widened in fear; Chronus knew about the cybernetic limb he had attached to what remained of his right arm, and in knowing that he could exploit the saiyan's most vulnerable weakness.

Instead of pushing his arms further together, Chronus kept the Prince in the same position but only tightened the grip of his right hand that held Vegeta's arm in place. He smirked with a manic satisfaction upon feeling titanium rupture rather than bone as Vegeta roared with an agony like that he'd never felt before. Chronus squeezed tighter, beginning to crush his arm slowly like it was nothing more than an empty tin can. Dozens of the thousands of electrons joined to the expansive network of his nervous system began to tear off with each the pain of an acidic explosion blazing up his right arm. For the first time since receiving his enhancement Vegeta wished he'd let Bulma keep those pain receptors inactive.

A few sparks of electricity jolted from the surface of Vegeta's arm as Chronus burned away at the faux-skin with a small charge of energy, revealing the hardened metal underneath it running in a small ring around his forearm spreading from the spot where he clutched it tightly. Vegeta's scream rang aloud and echoed across the canyon, and for a moment he almost didn't catch the mental voice of his oldest friend ring through his mind across the telepathic link.

_Vegeta! It's done! Get out of there! _Cried Goku.

Vegeta breathed deeply in spite of the pain and prepared to reply; to tell Kakarot to stop being so soft and throw the damn thing while he still had the chance. Yet before he could make his proud and selfless statement the cry of a familiar attack rang through the air.

"_Kamehameha!"_ called two voices in synchronism.

The first voice was easily recognisable – against Hyperion's better judgement Gohan was back on his feet again, though he was accompanied by another fighter who seemed to have joined the fray when no one noticed. Restored to life by the power of the Dragon Balls, Uub had come back to fight once again, and now the dark-skinned reincarnate seemed more deadly than ever. For all their strength though, the double Kamehameha blast was at a volume that could be merely shrugged off by the almighty Chronus. However in his moment of distraction Vegeta felt the submission loosen with a subtle change so slight that very few would notice it; this was his chance.

As fast as his body would allow, Vegeta wheeled over in a graceful flip and drove his foot sideways into Chronus's jaw with an overhead, soccer-like bicycle kick. The Master's grip loosened further, giving the Prince the room he needed to quickly reposition his feet to plant firmly against the monster's chest and push himself off and out of the devastating hold. He kicked out so hard that he managed to propel the Master out into the depths of space above the planet from the surge of ki he bolted from his feet. With no time to waste Vegeta then raced over to Gohan and Uub and dragged them away from the trajectory of the Spirit Bomb, now swelled up to a mass almost half the size of their beloved Earth.

_Kakarot! Throw the Bomb! Throw it now!_

Infusing the last of his Super Saiyan 5 power, Goku took one last inhale and let out an almighty scream as he threw the entire weight of the blast upwards, focusing on the massive ki that pervaded the universe above them. Almost immediately he lost control of the Super Saiyan's power and dropped to his knees out of exhaustion with his work done at last. Vegeta landed beside him, followed closely by Uub and Gohan some ten paces behind. The four stared after the Spirit Bomb filling the sky as it lumbered slowly into the planet's atmosphere. They scoped the giant orb with their senses, though in truth only Goku and Vegeta could truly comprehend the bomb's full power.

"You think it's enough?" questioned Vegeta after a few moments.

Goku shook his head. "Of course it is; I made sure that the Spirit Bomb's power outmatches his own!"

"Yeah, but so did Gogeta." said the Prince. "It has to completely dwarf his energy to stand any chance of beating him."

"We don't know that! It should be enough!"

"Kakarot you know as well as I do that 'should' isn't an option here. If this fails then there's nothing else we can do."

Goku gritted his teeth and made a growl of annoyance; the situation infuriated him just like the time he'd been forced to watch Chronus blast planets – he hated being helpless, and now was one of those moments. He was confident in the Spirit Bomb when he'd thrown it, but in being perfectly honest to himself he realised that he would've spent another minute or two finalising it had Vegeta's life not been at stake.

The Prince seemed know this, and yet he didn't berate him for being soft or idiotic as he usually would; he remained calm and focused – collecting his thoughts carefully.

"So what should we do?" asked Goku. "Do we just hope it'll work? I mean it _should!_ I can't put more energy into it now that it's gone!"

Overhead the Spirit Bomb howled as it left the planet and plotted itself on the route of a collision course headed straight for the Z-Fighters' nemesis hovering in limbo above. Vegeta sighed, and for the first time he tore his eyes away from the sky and looked directly at his rival, stood oblivious to his scheme across from him.

"I think I have an idea." He said. "And you're not going to like it."

Goku shot the Prince a funny look before blinking twice and staring blankly. "Huh?"

Vegeta sighed. He looked up the giant asteroid in the sky before looking back to his friend; he'd made his choice already - there was no other way - they had to see this thing through to the very end. "Goodbye Kakarot. . ."

With that, Vegeta took off into the sky, but upon finally realising the nature of his plan Goku managed to follow the saiyan and react quickly enough to grab the blue furred tail of his Super Saiyan 5.

"Vegeta no!" he insisted; a gleam of desperation could then be heard in his plea. "Don't go up there – you'll be killed!"

Vegeta struggled in vain again before looking up to the sky. If he didn't get a move on quickly he'd miss his only chance; he didn't have time to be indecisive here; he had to act now before it was too late. With a feeling of both regret and, admittedly, immense satisfaction, Vegeta reeled backwards for just a split second to put him well within range to smash Kakarot back into the ground with a single punch.

Goku's most basic form was naturally bested by the full force of Vegeta's Super Saiyan 5, causing him to let go of the Prince's tail and allowing him fly up towards the colossal Spirit Bomb above.

"Dad! Are you okay?" Gohan rushed over to his father's side, but before the man even reached him Goku had shot up and out of the crater he'd formed using up what strength he could muster to transform and pursue Vegeta into the clouds. Despite Kakarot being naturally stronger though, the Prince had no worries; he knew that with the lead he had and Kakarot's current state of power there was no way he'd catch up to him in time. He streamed through the third and final layer of cloud cover with the blazing fire of his aura burning away the moisture right before he shot through it. He carried on upwards just another mile in the space of less than a second before hearing the beep of the gravity enhancer strapped comfortably to his left arm, signalling that it had activated automatically upon him leaving this planet's atmosphere.

Moments later Goku reached the same spot, only this time he was forced to turn back. He momentarily choked and experienced a subzero chill far too low for his body to handle thanks to his lack of a device to protect him from the void of space. Once again there was nothing he could do; Chronus had smashed his gauntlet to pieces thanks to his own mistake and Vegeta was now too far away for him now to do anything.

Still the Prince charged up through the darkness of space, headed straight for the mighty Spirit Bomb that resembled a small planet with all the speed his body would allow. It was a devastating attack – the most powerful he'd ever seen, though he did not slow down upon approaching it. He'd heard once from Kakarot that the nature of the Spirit Bomb's energy was to not harm those of a good and true disposition. The explosion was painful to any who came within the blast radius, but only a being of evil could cause it to actually detonate.

He reminded himself about the time facing Majin Buu; he'd been brought back from the dead when Dende had wished for everyone 'not evil' to be brought back to life – surely that would make him exempt from this Spirit Bomb's restrictions too, wouldn't it? On the other hand, the first time he'd fought Kakarot the same attack had been used on him and would've blown his entire body to smithereens had he been just a few years younger. He'd been damaged severely by it back then, so wouldn't the same apply now? Would the Spirit Bomb recognise his latent selfish desires and deem him unworthy? Or could he really, truly have changed for the better? There was only one way to find out.

As a sharpened arrow of pure energy Vegeta made contact with the Spirit Bomb at high speeds, piercing straight through the orb's exterior and into its very depths. He held his breath for just a few moments, though to his pleasant surprise the bomb didn't explode around him – it remained intact and welcomed his presence as Vegeta now found himself quite literally surrounded by the hopes of the entire universe. Despite the bomb being completely blue on the outside, a vast multitude of different colours swum around harmoniously amidst the Spirit Bomb's interior. He was hardly a sentimental person, but even Vegeta found it hard not to appreciate the tranquil beauty that encircled him. Colours he'd never seen before shifted in and out of iridescence before glowing with a metallic tone as different pockets of energy weaved in and out of each other amongst the cluttered space.

But this was no time to admire the scenery; he had work to do and time was running short. As fast as he could, Vegeta made his way to the very heart of the Spirit Bomb and took his position. Down on the rocky planet the three fighters figured that like Hyperion, Vegeta was going to convert himself into energy to fuel the attack even more, however he had a better idea in mind.

Once at the vey core the Prince cast his gaze above, seeing past the swarm of energy through a translucent film of surrounding blue that Chronus stood hovering in space as they hurtled towards him, closing the gap between them with every passing second. With one final attack on his mind, Vegeta took his stance.

"_So what do we do? I take it you don't have any new moves?" _Goku had asked before.

_Vegeta considered for a few moments before shaking his head. "None that I could land. . . Damn it! He's too fast and too strong for us to get anywhere near him!"_

Those words he'd said before rung in his head as Vegeta begun transferring energy into his palms; it was true – he'd had no real plan or effective attacks left at the time, but given his current situation the environment was perfect to charge his ultimate technique. He'd not yet mastered it or even controlled the output of energy, but right now it was do or die.

Sparks of the deepest red energy suddenly jolted from the saiyan's hands as he pushed them together in front of him with a pose he'd stricken so many times before. Bolts of electricity cackled, dancing away from his left and ruined right arm from the output of the attack. He began to pour every last scrap of energy he could muster into preparing the beam; with Chronus beating him at every turn he'd had little chance to use the enormous pit of power that had been restored to him from the Elder's wish, and now was the perfect time to put it to good use.

"_**CRIMSON!**_" he began; his voice a booming call that echoed across the universe. Somewhere on Earth he somehow _felt _that Trunks and Bulma had heard his voice and turned their gaze to the skies in amazement. If there was a time to notice him, this would be it; as far as he was concerned, this was his crowning moment.

Through the transparent looking glass of the Spirit Bomb's surface above him Vegeta saw that Chronus had heard his cry and simply chose to ignore it. They were close enough now that he could just about make out the expression upon the tyrant's face, and he was definitely smiling. As they feared, Chronus looked ready to take on the Spirit Bomb after scoping it out and telling himself that he could just about survive, but what he didn't bank on was the saiyan Prince hiding inside, readying a surprise of his own.

A smaller orb of crimson thunder suddenly expanded around Vegeta and made his own personal space amidst the enormity of the planet-sized Spirit Bomb. The attack was beginning to take shape. The ball now forming in the conjoined bridge of his hands grew wider and more unstable by the second, but he had to hold onto it just a little while longer. He knew that he'd not properly mastered the attack yet, and for the most part its main drawback was that it consumed his vital energy, leaving him almost dead upon even one burst. But that wouldn't matter here.

The Galick Gun, the Final Flash and the Final Shine; they'd all been practice - a mere preamble to this: Vegeta's ultimate attack – the pinnacle of destructive energy blasts that came with too heavy a price. The universe had never experienced anything like it before; the fact that just one man could generate such a force was beyond even Chronus's understanding, though it had enough drawbacks to make it impractical save for situations like this one.

The Prince's energy was sucked up by the demanding technique entirely as his right arm became more indentured thanks to the incredible pressure it tried so hard to contain. The attack flared out in an uncontrollable storm of ten foot long tails of red lightning snaking away from the ball of wild ki in his hands that glowed so brightly it looked ready to explode right in front of him.

Vegeta looked up once again; Chronus was now just above them, and the prospect of victory brought a smile to each of their lips. The saiyan thought of his family back home; of the home planet he'd lost, the allies that had fallen around them, and much to his regret, of the saiyan Kakarot. He let his loyalty to each of them fuel him with the strength he needed to prime the blast.

Chronus raised the sword he kept close and swung it down, preparing to transfer energy and bat the Spirit Bomb away using everything he had. As the bladed edge made contact Vegeta let out a primal, untamed roar that shook the universe itself.

"_**OBLIVION!"**_

From the surface of Vegeta's torn and shredded gloves the Crimson Oblivion exploded as the largest and most devastating energy blast a single being had ever thrown. It soared at the speed of light through the depths of its blue counterpart and rushed to the Spirit Bomb's surface where an unsuspecting Chronus saw his end only a split-second before he met it. The Crimson Oblivion detonated upon impact, and with it, the blast set off the even bigger universal Spirit Bomb as the two combined to create a screaming explosion whose frightening aura of crimson and blue pulsed across the skies of every planet to the far corners of the cosmos.

"_Vegeta!_" Goku cried up into the explosion. He panicked and looked around; despite the immense display of blooming energy up in space the saiyan _knew _his friend was still up there somewhere. Using the Instant Transmission he warped back down towards the planet's surface, turning to his son with a frantic expression. "Gohan!"

He didn't have to say any more. Without hesitation Gohan quickly unstrapped the device clinging to his wrist and threw it to his dad. Goku caught it, and without even bothering to strap it on he warped out into space, hoping that the shield would activate automatically whether it was on his wrist or not. Fortunately it hummed to life as he arrived out in the void and left him glancing around desperately between the crumbling rock formations drifting in zero gravity. The meteor fragments coupled with the spiralling wisps of multicoloured light meant he could see or hear little out here, but he didn't have to. Somewhere amongst the void Vegeta's power signal still flickered, and in being much closer to the source Goku zapped quickly to his location before grabbing the saiyan and transmitting them back to the first place that came into his head.

Somehow the Prince was still alive as the two suddenly appeared in a desolate, unremarkable mass of rocky land. Where exactly they'd teleported to Goku had no idea, though he knew instantly what planet he'd taken them to. They were home at last - the distinct gravity of Earth was instantly recognisable, but only one of them had arrived safely. To Goku's dismay, one look at his greatest ally as he settled him down on the ground showed him that Vegeta's body was utterly broken; in finally reverting back to his most basic level the damage was undeniably fatal. His clothes had been slashed a thousand times over to display a river of blood that coated his entire body. Many of his bones were clearly broken and patches of exposed muscle protruded that pained Goku to even look at. His face was slashed with a dozen small yet clearly deep cuts along with the intense burns from the explosion and the darkened bruises that covered his entire frame.

It was just like with Raditz; Goku knew immediately that the saiyan was beyond saving, leaving him powerless to do anything to stop the inevitable.

"Vegeta! Vegeta! Come on Vegeta snap out of it!"

After being surrounded by an immeasurable sea of intrusive journalists, Mr. Satan took his seat at a long, mildly decorated desk. The unruly crowd of a thousand questions were held back by twelve surly bodyguards who tried desperately to keep the reporters from making their way to the champion's desk. Mr. Satan sighed and looked around the room; to his left sat his agent, and behind him sat his publicist, whilst to his right his head trainer sat smugly with his left leg propped up onto his right knee.

They were all either completely clueless or too clever for their own good. The masses would eat up his story just as they'd done time and time again, and those that knew about his biggest secret would never publically confess, since being close to the world champion gave them the kind of benefits you didn't give up so easily.

A small legion of women suddenly swarmed him, quickly wiring him up and pointing him in the direction of a small camera and a screen below. He nodded absently as the entire scene went by in a blur; for once in his life he didn't want to be here - he'd give anything to leave and escape the private shame of it all. Voices filled the room and the snapping clicks of cameras sounded followed by blinding solar flares went off like a chemical reaction. An announcer then demanded silence from the paparazzi whilst a leading woman chewing the end of a pen pointed him to a small screen right below the camera with the autocue ready to begin.

"Mr. Satan, we're rolling in three, two, one. . ."

"Come _on_ Vegeta!" pressured Goku.

After a minute of dazing in and out of consciousness Vegeta finally came to his senses to be greeted only by a world of pain that could mean nothing but approaching death. He blinked twice and inhaled a wheeze of what felt like razorblades down his throat.

"You did it Vegeta." Goku reassured him comfortingly. "The universe is safe now. Thanks to you."

The Prince opened his mouth to speak, finding only that a rasping whisper and a mouthful of blood came to his lips. He steadied himself and tried again. "Idiot. . . It would've done nothing without the Spirit Bomb."

"Well then it's a victory for both of us then."

Vegeta laughed weakly. "I suppose you're right." He breathed painfully. The saiyan looked down to see the sorry state his body was in and groaned uncomfortably in agony. Moving was almost impossible for him – even to blink caused him discomfort.

As the Prince reflected on the battle the air was suddenly filled with a soft, white ash that rained down gently upon the planet. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before and clearly a side-effect of their battle's fantastic climax. He knew that the same phenomenon was occurring across every galaxy, and as he weighed up the rewards of his sacrifice he deduced that it was all worth it. But there was still one thing he had to be sure of.

"Trunks, and Bulma-" He grated out.

"Their fine, don't worry about them – everyone's safe." Goku informed him. With the current situation getting the best of him a few tears streamed down the saiyan's face; there was no use in fighting them now, but it was something he knew Vegeta would berate him for regardless.

"Quit being so soft. . ." Wheezed Vegeta after a toturous cough. "What are you crying about? At least in the afterlife I'll be free of this ridiculous arm and be back to my old self." He held up the barely attached prosthetic of his right arm that still sparked like exposed circuitry and remained completely crushed at the centre.

* * *

"People of the Earth," Hercule read aloud from the autocue. "As many of you may know, last week a great evil terrorized and attacked our planet, thinking it could boss us around and enslave humanity for its own personal satisfaction." He spoke in a bored and distant monotone like a jaded news announcer with a hangover; he was completely devoid of the usual over the top charisma and made many of the journalists and bodyguards look to one another in confusion as he continued. "Well I'm here to tell you that the Earth is in danger no more. Once again I marched up to his evil face and I. ."

For the first time in his public career Mr. Satan's composure wavered and he hesitated for just a few seconds.

"I. . ." he tried again as the lines of his autocue slowly scrolled up and off the screen. The leading cameraman peered out from behind the lens as the woman who'd pointed him to the screen looked frantic, ushering him on in a silent mime to hurry up.

"I can't do this." Hercule finished. Appalled stares from the woman by the autocue and the higher-ups that surrounded him were suddenly fixated on the world champ, though he'd now decided that he didn't deserve that title; enough was enough.

"People of the Earth." He began again, this time completely disregarding the autocue and ignoring the hectic beckoning of his advisors whilst slipping back into his usual charming persona. "I did not defeat Cell!" he announced.

Gasps of shock and bewilderment echoed around the mob of journalists beyond the panel. His agent jumped to his feet, though would never dare challenge the champ himself. News reporters hastily checked to see if they'd caught the legend's sudden confession on camera, but he wasn't finished yet; not by a long way.

"And I did not defeat Majin Buu!" he continued. He savoured the reactions and suppressed a laugh at how amazed these people were whilst silently wishing he'd done this years ago. "And those events on the moon; where we all got our minds taken over! I had nothing to do with that either. Those people who transported you to safety – they weren't my associates or my apprentices, _they _were the ones you should've been thanking!"

* * *

"Kakarot. ." said Vegeta once again as he put on his most determined expression that looked obscure amidst the mess of his damaged face. "Help me stand. ." Using all the energy he had left, the Prince managed to raise his left arm and motion for a hand from his rival. It was something he'd never normally consider; receiving help for anything from Kakarot was a strict no in his code of honour, but he'd come this far, and wanted to be on his feet in his moment of victory; in his moment of death.

Goku fought back more tears and reluctantly grasped the saiyan's hand. He hoisted him up with another splash of blood leaving a small lake of it behind where Vegeta had lain. After staggering initially the Prince rested his left hand on Goku's shoulder for support and managed to stand despite everything. He breathed deeper than ever now as each exhale grew longer and throatier. The end was near, but for some reason he didn't care. Feeling the spongy ash fall upon the back of his neck from the sky, standing face to face with his greatest friend and rival and experiencing the aftermath of his biggest victory; this was how he knew it should be.

Goku suppressed the urge to remain upset in one final effort that succeeded eventually; there was nothing he could do now – Vegeta had chosen this willingly of his own accord. Tears would solve nothing and would only serve to make the Prince resent him more in his final moments. He had to remain strong now; to prove himself worthy of being this man's rival and ensure that his last moments here were comforting. He knew just what to say.

"You mentioned once that when we fought we'd need a whole planet as our battleground. . ."

Vegeta looked up in wonder as if he'd seen the light at the end of the tunnel. From his slumped position leaning on Goku's shoulder he suddenly straightened and met the saiyan's eyes once again.

"Well how about a whole galaxy?" Goku finished. He cracked a smile, and so did Vegeta.

The Prince chuckled and his smile widened a little; the idea comforted him greatly; knowing that one day the two would finally get a chance to fight one another again in a time of peace sounded like the best idea ever to the both of them. "I can't wait." He rasped.

With nothing more to say, Vegeta closed his eyes and finally drew his last breath. His body faded slowly into nothingness as he passed over to the other side, no doubt regaining his true self free of injuries and with a new, organic arm to practice with. He didn't know when exactly it would be, but he knew that one day, in this life or the afterlife, in one year or a hundred, the two would meet again. And with that to look forward to the saiyan would use every day to prepare, waiting for that fated moment when they, the universe's two greatest heroes, were reunited once again.

* * *

"So why am I telling you this?" questioned Mr. Satan hypothetically. "Naturally, I also had nothing to do with these recent events either. Some _true _heroes – the ones who've saved you all these years – fought in the battles that surrounded them." He looked down regrettably for a few moments before addressing the camera once again. "Not all of them made it out alive." He revealed. "There were casualties on our side that sacrificed themselves for us to come out on top; ladies and gentlemen this was not a great success but a hollow victory for planet Earth. One man in particular, who has defended us time and time again, suffered more than any of us could ever imagine to save a planet that he wasn't even born on! And this isn't the first time either! Warriors have given their lives before; and I've grown tired of taking all the credit for their noble sacrifice!"

By now the audience of journalists had grown silent in the wake of Mr. Satan's inspiring, daring and terrifying speech. Even the persistent woman who'd counted him in looked speechless with her jaw hung aloft in shock and horror as the pen fell from her mouth. Hercule took a deep breath and finalised his memorable announcement.

"So ladies and gentlemen - people of the Earth. I must ask you to bow your heads for a moment in respect to these warriors who live among us, and have saved us more times than you or even I know. Because more than me or any other fake out there; whether they were born on this planet or not, _they _are the true champions of Earth."

* * *

A whole hour had passed, yet Goku never moved from that spot. He stood still; only waiting for the evening to come with a breeze that swept through his hair as he savoured the victory and remembered all the times he'd shared with Vegeta – both the good and the bad. It shouldn't have ended like this; he didn't deserve to die again – someone who'd given so much deserved more than that. Goku had quickly realised with the Namekian Dragon Balls out of commission; and probably for a very long time out of the fear of overuse, that there was no visible way to restore life to the Prince of all Saiyans or any of the others. The prospect infuriated Goku; why should Vegeta, Piccolo and Raditz be punished for all this? It was in thinking this over that Goku clenched his fist tightly enough to draw blood in his frustration. He turned around slowly and begun to walk away as the setting red sun winked its final rays of crimson light behind him.

_Vegeta. . . Guys. . . _He thought only in his own mind, promising only himself to do what was necessary. _I swear that I'll find some way to bring you back. Dragon Balls or no Dragon Balls, you deserve to be here in this time of peace. Our fight isn't over Vegeta; I promised you we'd finish what we started, so no matter what: I'll find a way. . ._

_

* * *

_

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* * *

_And so there you have it folks. Thank you guys so much for reading and in particular all you guys who've sent me messages and stuff, you've really helped me with everything. As for me, I've had a brilliant time writing Dragon Ball AF, especially this final chapter. Say what you will, but I'm actually kind of sad after writing that. Anyway it was inevitable; I had this planned from the start so I wasn't about to go back on it after all that preparation _

_Oh and just for the record, I mentioned it a few times but just to be clear Vegeta's Crimson Oblivion isn't as powerful as the enormous Spirit Bomb, but its massive strength was required to defeat Chronus. I know that of the three titans Vegeta is the weakest, so him having the biggest single ultimate attack doesn't make much sense (it goes Crimson Oblivion, Darkness Buster and Dragon Kamehameha in order of power) but it uses up all of his power and life force energy so it does sort of make sense in a Dragon Ball kind of way, and Vegeta's the kind of guy who does stuff like that anyway._

_And I told you guys that the Vegeta's arm subplot wasn't just over like that! - Tien got his arm back after having it blasted off by Nappa and Chiaotzu got his entire body restored so it makes sense that Vegeta would get the same treatment._

_I know a lot of people don't like Mr. Satan and the timeskip ending might have gotten confusing but it's just one of those things I thought would be effective. Mr Satan coming clean and developing some humility may not be totally in character but I like to think that by GT's end he'd gained some perspective and regretted his actions somewhat. _

_Hmm, what else? . . Heheh, Uub got no lines aside from 'Kamehameha'. . . And when I said two more good guys were gonna die, I never said I'd exclude the one you already thought was dead! (Hyperion got to die twice!) Pssh, and you all probably thought I was going to kill Gohan when he got stabbed. . ._

_I guess the only thing left to do now is the disclaimer that I've forgotten about up until now and rip off TeamFourStar :S_

_Dragon Ball AF: The Room of Spirit and Time Saga is a non-profit and purely fan made story. Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball GT are all owned by Funimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama, so support the official release! . . ._

_. . . _

_IIII smell a sequel!_

**Dragon Ball AF: The (**insert awesome name here**) Saga! Coming March 20th 2011! **

Stay tuned :D

* * *

1ST MARCH 2011 UPDATE:

Finally the picture of Chronus is up on my profile. Honestly I've had it finished for like a month now aside from colouring in his belt but I just kept putting it off for one reason or another. Even before that I did so many drafts of him that I just got sick of it eventually, the final product still doesn't look ideal to me, but at least it's something and I promised you guys that much at least. Again I'm sorry it took so long to do but then again I've said before that I always consider myself a writer and not an artist - I'd hope you guys read Dragon Ball AF for the writing and not the art since you'd be left pretty disappointed it you relied on the drawings - like I said, I'm no artist, the drawings are just something to give it extra flavour.

The sequel is still happening at the date I specified above and I've been plotting it for quite some time now so I'd say it promises to be better than The Room of Spirit and Time Saga (which I made almost completely spontaneously - it was originally supposed to just be a short story a few chapters long about Trunks and Vegeta in the Room). I still don't _actually _have a name for it but I reckon I should be able to think up of one in time. For those who are interested I'm also writing a brand new fanfiction which also plans to be a huge, multi-installment story like Dragon Ball AF. It's not on Dragon Ball this time but it _is _on a certain anime that I guaruntee you'll have at least heard of, and it's not a spin-off or a carry-on like AF, it's a brand new 100% original fanfiction, set in only the universe of the anime along a completely different timeline (so even if you don't like the anime in question you might even find yourself liking this story xD). It'll start in about two weeks since I'm on holiday in Bulgaria next week and it'll run alongside Dragon Ball AF.

But just let me make this clear - this will not affect Dragon Ball AF in any way. You'll probably think my time and attention is divided and therefore DBAF will come out slower than usual, but I promise you this will not be the case. Having another project breaks monotony and I have plenty of time to write both in regular installments. It's actually really common; many writers have two or three projects so that they can flip between them to stop them getting bored of one. I'm an aspiring writer so I write other stuff aside from Fanfiction in the hope that it'll be one day published. Including Dragon Ball AF and the new fanfiction I'm working on I've got an A, B, C and a D project - I'm juggling four things here, but at least I'm drawing the line at that many, five would be a stretch. xD


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